Дц Форекс Tycoon

Wynn defeated the lawsuit in October when a federal judge in Washington, D.C., said the casino tycoon could not be ordered to register with the Justice Department as a foreign agent of China.

“…. the Attorney General of the United States of America hereby appeals to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia from the judgment of this Court entered on the 12th day of October, , granting Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss,” the Justice Department said in a filing on Friday.

The Justice Department in May sued for a court order forcing Wynn, the former CEO of Wynn Casinos, to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).

Officials alleged that Wynn had lobbied then-U.S. President Donald Trump on China’s behalf in Wynn’s attorneys denied that he was ever an agent of the Chinese government.

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg said in October that, because any relationship between Wynn and the Chinese government ended in , the Republican donor cannot be required to register as an agent. The judge pointed to past precedent in D.C. federal court in making the ruling.

The judge said he was not determining whether Wynn had lobbied on China’s behalf. He also said the Justice Department could pursue criminal sanctions against Wynn for failing to disclose the alleged lobbying, if the statute of limitations had not expired.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh; Editing by Sandra Maler)

JARKUDUK, Uzbekistan, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Uzbek Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov said on Saturday the government would allow foreign currency sales in cash to individuals by Oct. 1 for the first time in decades.

The central bank devalued the sums this month, allowing the official exchange rate to weaken to about 8, sums to the dollar from 4, The move to let the currency float made legal transactions more attractive than the black market, where the rate had been around 7,

Asked if the government planned to further devalue the national currency, the prime minister told reporters: "The market will show that".

In a decree published in September, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev ordered the government and the central bank to launch retail foreign exchange operations with no restrictions from Sept. 5. But in that decree Uzbeks could only receive the money on special bank cards but not in cash.

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

You can build living spaces, day retail, or night retail. You then stock the retail spaces with items to be sold (done automatically). By analyzing the people's needs (and build the right stores), you hope to make a lot of money, with which you'll build more businesses, buy land, buy utilities, buy railroad stations, and so on. The actually "objective" may vary. See [9] for a full list of game objectives, ranging from largest empire value by a certain date to be voted mayor by winning 5 elections. The game is in full 3D view, with individual citizens and cars visible on the streets, and they will walk about as they simulate buying things for their needs. However, a lot of the information is seen in the 2D "map" view. There are a lot of small details that makes the game deeper than it first appears. You can adjust prices of individual stores (down to dollars). You can lease utilities and/or train stations to reduce overhead (for example, if you leased the water utility, then all players must pay their water payment to you, and your business's water becomes essentially free). New store types becomes available as time marches on, and the city slowly transforms from small houses to skyscrapers. There is also bidding for various properties' lease rights. If you managed to obtain lease rights for all properties in the same color block, you obtain monopoly. With monopoly, you can force other owners to sell their business on those blocks to you at a reduced price (below market price). BUGS AND FIXES For a full list of bugs, please check the specific patch "README" file. EXPANSION PACKS? SEQUELS? RELATED TITLES? There are no expansion packs, sequels, or related titles to Monopoly Tycoon. On the other hand, you could argue that the entire "tycoon" genre is related. Try the big names, like Zoo Tycoon (Microsoft) or Railroad Tycoon 2 (GOD Games). The smaller ones are mainly junk. NOTES ON ORGANIZATION This guide is organized as similar to the actual manual as possible, mainly acting as a supplement. 2 The Citizens See page 18 of your manual for details on the citizens. TIP: Low-income citizens tend to live in the low-income districts (1 star and 2 star), medium-income citizens live in the 3-star and 4-star districts, and the highincome citizens live in the 5-star districts. TIP: Citizens want to shop in buildings build to similar quality. Low-income citizens like low-quality buildings, while high-income citizens demand high-quality buildings. Think of it this way: the low-income districts would have the Wal-marts and Targets, while high-income districts would have Nordstroms and Saks Fifth Avenues. The mid-income districts would have the Macy's and JC Penney's and Mervyn's. TIP: In general, the low-income district needs cheap prices and high stock quantities, while high-income district needs expensive shops with low-stock quantities. 3 The Passage of Time night-retail stops operating spoilage occurs (half of remaining stock is lost) bank checks for solvency. If you're insolvent, you have until next midnight to turn that around or you will be ejected from the game NOTE: your "cash" icon will flash red in this hour "warning period". - Best time to build day retail and adjust stock levels and prices - Best time to build night retail and adjust stock levels and prices your stores are restocked with items. This can be a significant drain on your cash, so beware that you don't overspend during the day utilities and railroads pay their owners (so if you own utilities you get a big bonus) day retail start operating day retail stop operating night-retail start operating voting occurs if election scenario is on 4 Leasing a City BLock TIP: As building rights are suspended during bid countdown, forcing a bid on a block your opponent is building on will temporarily stunt his growth. Even if he wins the bidding, you'd have held him off for a significant portion of a day. TIP: Only one block can be up for bid at a time, so one possible tactic is force auctions of strategic blocks so others use up the cash, while you keep building. TIP: Leasing a city block can use up significant amount of cash during the bidding process. Check the amount of rent a block

can generate before making the investment, and see how much of that can you REALLY afford. In general, you need to recuperate at least 50% of the bid amount from "one-day's rent" to make a bidding worthwhile, unless you need to squeeze out competitors with "Monopoly". TIP: If you successfully control all blocks of a particular color, you can use this Monopoly to force businesses on those blocks to be sold to you for a discount. This even includes city-owned businesses. This can be a significant way to increase your empire value. TIP: If you control the utilities, you gain a LOT of extra income, the more the better. However, it will take several game days to successfully bid all four, as well as a lot of cash. Analyze what utilities are most used by businesses already on the map, then make your move. TIP: Controlling the train stations can mean a good income, though less than utilities, esp. in mid-late game. You're looking at about nightly if you control all four railroads. However, the bidding can drive prices WAY UP into the range per station. TIP: If you need money, sell the lease LONG BEFORE midnight to raise money. Figure 6 hours before midnight. Selling means another bidding war. You will probably lose money. Still, it's better than being ejected from the game altogether. 5 Auctions -- a bidding frenzy TIP: Consider the potential income of a block, utilities, or railroad, before you start a bid. You need to make that money back in a day or two, unless you have a lot of cash reserves and can afford a bidding war. TIP: If a block is mostly empty, let the opponent have it. He may have that exclusive period, but unless he's got CHUNKS of cash, he can't build enough buildings there to cover up the whole lot until AFTER that hour period expires, then you can join in there and build any way. Just make sure you don't let him get monopoly to force you out. TIP: Prevent other players from achieving monopoly if possible. Usually the AI don't go for monopoly that much. Remember, all blocks must go through auction, so if you can just buy up ONE block out of 2 or 3 needed for monopoly, you can prevent the monopoly. TIP: On the other hand, sometimes, price is no object when you need monopoly yourself. Dip into your cash reserves and your credit when you need it. Just make sure you make that back before end of next day. TIP: Know the maximum price you can afford to pay before entering the auction. As soon as the counter starts, you should figure out how much can you afford to pay. Sometimes, money is no object. At other times, you may need to let someone else take the prize. TIP: Use "pass" instead of "pull out". Pass keeps you in the bidding (unless the other bidders have pulled out). TIP: You may want to keep bidding small amounts just to make your opponent spend MORE money on the block than he originally planned to. On the other hand, know when to stop so you don't end up holding a block that is of no use to you. CHEAT: see [] 6 Building Successful Shopping Centers See [3] for the time chart. You need to know this by heart. TIP: Note which types of business has a minimum width of 1, and which ones have minimum width of 2. This helps you plan the size of each business, which affects the stocking levels and building costs. See "Fact File 2" in your manual for full list of retail shops. TIP: Note that many shops, esp. later, can be built-higher, to fit more stock, instead of more footprint. If you are building a high volume low price store like newspaper, you may need to build up in order to squeeze more stores on the same block. NOTE: Restocking happens at or by construction (if after ). Therefore, do NOT construct stores just before midnight, or you'll lose a LOT of the stock due to 'spoilage'. Instead, build day retail just after midnight (between and ), and build night retail before It is hard to use the "special restock" card if you get it. Basically, it's best to use it on a store that has ran out of stock, but there is still significant amount of the retail period remaining. Also, the price should be high on the item. For example, let's say your newsstand is already out of paper, and your jewelry store is also out of jewelry. The day is only 11AM, and you have a special restock card. Assuming both stores are equal capacity, it would probably be

better to restock the jewelry store, as that has better margins overall. TIP: Check ALL of your business before 6AM every day on stock level, prices, and so on. Lower prices and/or stock level if necessary to sell things out. TIP: Keep day and night retail on separate blocks. Citizens who shop on the block will tend to browse the rest of the block, so you want to put the maximum number of shops on the same block. TIP: Refurbish existing stores when they no longer serve the right clientele or provided the wrong commodities. Remember, only the same footprint type can be done. TIP: Rule of thumb: keep selling price AT LEAST twice the cost, higher for lower cost items. Also see [] for more pricing tips. TIP: If you can't maintain the profit margin or make the store profitable, TEAR IT DOWN. You don't want the store to drain your cash. TIP: The default prices are NOT always right. In case of tools, clothing (esp. in mid or high quality buildings), electrical, travel, and such, the default prices may be much too high to let you sell out, unless you are building a VERY small store. TIP: Some stores NEED to be small, while others need to be BIG. Know the difference, study the manual. TIP: Build stores higher whenever possible, so you can fit more stores on the same block. 7 Apartments TIP: Most scenarios have multiple apartments already on the map. So usually, you don't need to build any unless you see a district with NO apartments and have extra cash around ready to invest. NOTE: you can only survey blocks with an apartment on it, and only after people have moved in. TIP: You can see the apartments flashing on the city map if you click on the survey button on the toolbar. TIP: Build shopping center around the BIGGEST apartments, as it's easier to anticipate the "needs" of residents there (less margin of error). TIP: In certain scenarios, you may need to build your own apartments to give the citizens places to live. TIP: Build your apartments first, if you need to, to attract more citizens. The larger the apartment, the more people will be enticed to shop on the same block (or nearby). 8 Utility Companies and Railroads TIP: Own all four utilities to get a LOT of money. If you have a long game ahead with lots of cash, buying out the utilities can almost guarantee you a win. If you go for one, you may as well go for them all (if you have enough cash reserves). TIP: Owning the railroads are less lucrative, but can generate near $ per day per railroad. Of course, you'll need to grab more than a few railroads to get all that money. TIP: If you own all railroads AND all utilities, you will get a HUGE profit at the beginning of the day. They generate an incredible amount of dollars. 9 Game Objectives SALES TARGET Make certain number of sales before anybody else. TIP: Start in the cheap districts, and build those high- volume stores like newspaper and so on. You can make a LOT of sales like newspapers and such. You probably won't make too much money, but you'll sure make lots of sales. TIP: Stay out of the high-rent districts. You can't afford the expensive buildings there. TIP: Build at least one or two stores daily, as you need to keep expanding. Make smaller stores and make sure they sell out. Build 1, 2, or 4-unit stores. TIP: Build both daily and nightly business to fit the demands. Frequently one gets fixated on building only day retail. Remember, night retail has higher profit margins. TIP: Lower prices to make sure you sell out (or get close to selling out) all the stock in each and every store. EMPIRE VALUE Get Empire value up to a specific value before anybody else, or by a specific date. TIP: Grow in medium-value districts, 3star and so on. Cheap districts have almost same amount of overhead so you make less money. Expensive districts cost too much so you grow slower. TIP: The strategy will differ slightly depending on how much time you have. If the time is short, don't bother auctioning anything, just build, build, and build, while force auction on someone else (esp if two or more build on the same block). You don't need to buy it, you just need to freeze the block for quarter of a day. If you have more time, then buy up the blocks with the best stores, force monopoly, and buy out the enemy stores at below market to boost your empire value. TIP: Keep building new stores

every day. Use up more land to get more value. NOTE: Don't overspend too much. If you overspend and can't make back the money, you lose due to bankruptcy. TIP: Empire value is NOT directly related to cash. Empire value has more to do with the stores, the land they use, and how much revenue they generate. It's better to make smaller stores that are profitable than to make big discount stores. SPECIAL TACTIC: "final day crunch" -- build up a large cash reserve by the final day. Look for a group of blocks (preferably 3-star or below) with a LOT of opponents' businesses. Just before the final day starts, force that one of those blocks into auction. The idea is the auction starts JUST AFTER midnight, so you don't go into the red just yet. BUY THE ENTIRE neighborhood at ANY COST. You MUST achieve monopoly. Once you achieved monopoly, go HEAVILY into debt (remember, you have credit) and BUY OUT ALL of the stores on those blocks. Your empire value will skyrocket, even if you're heavily in debt, due to all these "hostile takeovers", as you can pay LESS than market value for them. This should be enough to win unless you never kept up with the rest. VOTING FOR MAYOR Each citizen votes each "day" for each player that best enhanced his/her life at hours. There's two days before the voting starts. The first player to collect multiple wins (rosettes) win as mayor. TIP: Satisfy the needs of the citizens. Build stores that satisfy as many "needs" by the polls as possible. Check the polls constantly and build more stores nearby. This is similar to sales target, except you need to keep this day to day. TIP: As voting is at 6PM, it's the DAY RETAIL that will earn you more sympathy points. However, you still can't ignore night retail as it's more profitable. TIP: Build on the BIGGEST apartments first. You're going for quantity, not quality. TIP: Build in the cheap districts, so you can build MORE stores. TIP: Build a lot of small stores instead of few big stores, to satisfy more needs. TIP: Lower prices to make more sales. More sales, more votes. NOTE: Don't lower prices too much that you're not making a profit. You need money to keep growing and maintain your margin. LAST MAN STANDING Similar to "Voting for Mayor", except the lowest scoring person is kicked out, until only one remains. TIP: Same tips apply, except you don't need to be the very top all the time. NOTE: the loser forfeits his or her properties to the city. FIRST TO DAILY PROFIT X Make more profit than any one else, and reach the target, on a daily basis. TIP: Build medium-sized businesses. You can't afford to keep all that stock around to spoil, yet if you go too small you don't make enough money. TIP: Build businesses with higher profit margins. Jewelry has higher margin than newspapers, for example. On the other hand, if you can't sell enough of them, you don't make money either. TIP: Go for medium-rent districts. Low-rent districts are easier to start, but their profit margins are lower as well. High-rent districts are too expensive to get in. TIP: Control utilities. They minimize your operating costs (you don't pay yourself) and gain you extra income. Controlling utilities will give you a lot of income right about 6AM, offset-ing a lot of the restocking charges. TIP: Once you control utilities, go for the railroads. The more you control, the more money you make at the beginning. 10 More hints and tips INTERFACE TIP: Use TAB key to switch between city and block view, sure beats clicking the "switch view" button. TIP: Use the "adjust price" button to call up the price viewer. Use the "business scroller" there to flip through your businesses. It's much easier than click from block to block then business to business. WHERE TO START BUILDING TIP: Pick the block with the largest apartment, if there are apartments on the map. You get more initial customers that way. TIP: If there are no existing apartments, start in the low- rent districts, as the rents there and building costs are cheaper. Build apartment there, then expand your business. WHAT BUSINESS TO BUILD TIP: Use a LOT of polling. Check every single block with an apartment building (flashing blocks in the city view, poll mode) in the districts you want to target. However, it'll take several hours

for the apartments to get their tenants. TIP: If there's no residents yet, build bakery and newspaper stands. Those are the usual needs. Some will also want clothing store. TIP: In general, food items are good sellers, though they generate minimal profit. You need to be pretty big to sell enough of those to make big money. TIP: Balance between day and night business. Remember to have night retail ready before 6PM comes along. TIP: Day business should be small to medium size, as there would be MORE of them, except the stuff in HEAVY demand. Stuff like meat, fish, fruit and veg, bread, and such are usually in demand. TIP: Night business tends to be large. Indeed, the smallest Ballroom and Theater is size 8. Initially, you may want to stick to the smaller night business, like Bar, Restaurant, and Cinema. Those are usually hot sellers, and most of your profit (if you priced them right). Indeed, don't build Ballroom and Theater until you see more than 15 demand for each. TIP: Some businesses do NOT generate profit (at least for me). Businesses like furniture, clothing, books, hardware, jewelry, and such don't generate much profit, as they are high priced and any sales variance is bound to affect them severely. Spoilage is a major issue with these high-cost businesses. You may want to avoid those initially and concentrate on the businesses that you can just plop down and expect to make money (i.e. the ones with default pricing set right). WHAT SIZE BUSINESS TO BUILD TIP: Read the poll and consider how many people from THAT BLOCK needs. Use that as a general guideline. Multiple that by or 2. That's the size you should aim for as stock quantity. For example, say 24 people at this apartment want a bakery. I would probably build a 36 or 48capacity bakery, just to make sure I can handle all requests. For cheaper / smaller stuff, I would go for 2x. For expensive items like furniture, jewelry, and such, I may just go for 1x. Read the store description in the manual, look for the "stock capacity". Divide the stock quantity by stock capacity will give you the store size. If you're not sure, just build small, a 2 space, 3 space, or 4space store is sufficient for day retail. Not all stores must be Walmart-sized. Later, you'll know what size to build. TIP: While extra stock do spoil at midnight, you don't NEED to stock a store to full capacity, whereas if you have a small store to start with, you do sell out, but you can't make enough money! Cut down the stock to prevent losing lots of money! TIP: Consider, if possible, "down-the-road" consequences. You can only refurbish a store to one that has the same footprint. PRICING TIP: Use the graph to judge profitability. Ideally, you should make money the first year, and every year. This may not always be possible, due to special circumstances like competition, chance cards, and so on. TIP: Remember the old joke that goes like this, "I know we're losing money on every sale, but we'll make it up in volume"? Before you adjust prices, first calculate how low of a price CAN you set. For example, let's say you have a clothing store with daily cost of $ (rent, utilities, etc.), averages 15 sales a day. That means you need to price the clothes at / 15, or (rounded up) to break even. If you tried and you STILL can't increase sales enough to make a profit, it may be time to close the store. TIP: Don't lose money in a store. You lose the time spent building it, the construction cost, the demolition cost, the actual money lost, AND the lead it gives to your opponents! TIP: Pricing strategy is simple. If the store did not start at 9AM, ignore the sales that day as it does not reflect a full day's sales. Check how many you sold vs. how many you stocked. Calculate the sales to stock ratio. For example, say you have a 24 stock newsstand, and you sold Your s-t- s ratio is % % Well done! Try raising prices 5% and see how the market reacts % Nice, drop price 5% and get that full % sellout again. % Reduce prices another 10 to 15%, you're getting close. % Not good, reduce price by 30% to 50%, you are getting SIGNIFICANT spoilage and you need to reduce that ASAP. % This is really bad, reduce prices DRASTICALLY, right near the break-even point, then start up from there. TIP: The default

price is NOT necessarily the right price. In fact, for a lot of the stores the default prices are simply TOO HIGH. For things costing less than a dollar, figure you need to sell it at 5x to 10x the cost to be profitable. For things costing more than a dollar each, figure 2x-5x the cost. Here's a list of prices I found to work so far: Bakery: default price Book store: $8-$10 Butcher shop: default price Cafe: default price Clothes Store: $9-$15 Dairy Store: default price Diner: default price Doctor's office: default price Electrical Store: $$25 Fish Market: default price Furniture store: $$30 Grocery store: default price Hardware store: $$25 Jewelry store: $$35 News stand: default price Souvenir Shop: default? Toy store: $10 - $15 Ballroom: default Bar: default Cinema: default is okay, but may need reduction to as low as $8 Restaurant: default Theater: $$12 Antique store: $ Ice Cream Parlor: default Night Club: no data Pool Hall: a little HIGHER than default is fine, unless you have competition I have no data yet on further businesses. If you have them, feel free to submit them. TIP: If you sell out of a commodity, consider raising price by about 5% for next day, and see how the market reacts. If you stop selling out, return the price to normal, and then a dime less ($ less). If you still sell out, consider raising it another 5% or so until you stop selling out. ADJUSTMENTS There are two things you can adjust for a business you can adjust the price, or the stock level. First thing you need to do is calculate the breakeven point. At your present price, multiplied by the daily sales, are you actually making a profit? What is the lower price you can set to match your daily costs? The stock level should only be adjusted if you cannot sell out the stock, even if you have lowered the price right near the break-even point. This basically means you built a store too large for the local market. . . The price is obvious. Usually, the lower you set the price, the more you sell. However, this may not be always true in MT. There may be a limit after which you STILL can't sell more, as there are no more residents nearby needing that commodity. See above for more pricing tipsl. WHAT BUSINESS TO KEEP TIP: If a business is NOT making money, you have three choices: fix it (change price and such until it can make money), refurbish it (so it sells something else), or demolish it (so you don't lose any MORE money). TIP: A business that loses money should be demolished or refurbished ASAP. Adjusting stock level just means you're losing LESS money. TIP: In general, if you can't make the business profitable by end of THIRD day (15 years), that business should be "recycled". AUCTIONS TIP: Watch for auction's timing. The seconds warning period in real-time means almost 5 hours in game time. If this occurs just around the important times, like or , you can have a problem. For example, if the auction happens just before midnight, you may go into red in the wrong time, or use up capital before you need it. TIP: Against AI, there's really no point in using $ instead of $50 or $ AI seems to choose randomly between follow, or not. If it is set to exceed your bid, it doesn't matter if you added $ or added $ Just keep adding $ NOTE: You CAN use up to dollars of credit. However, if you go that far into the red you probably lost Unless you're doing the "last day crunch" tactic. see []. BUYING LEASES TIP: Buying the lease on a full block has the following pros and cons Pros: * you get the rent * if you have businesses on there, you don't pay the rent (they cancel out) you lock the block from further development unless you open it again (in which case, you get hours of exclusive building) * you can sell the lease for $$$ (though it'll go through the auction again) * you have a chance for monopoly, esp. in long games Cons: * you pay a big chuck of money immediately * the rent isn't that much, esp. in low-rent districts * you may block yourself from building there (esp. when you don't want your enemies to build there either!) * if you sell the lease, you may lose a lot of money * you need to buy up ALL blocks of same color to get monopoly, which can easily be blocked and REALLY drain you of cash. 11 Campaign Mission Notes Here is a list of all the

missions in the single player campaign. See [10] for some generic advice. STARTING OUT You need to make sales total. Some apartments are in the city already There is no competitor, so this one is quite simple. Build a store or two that satisfy the needs of the biggest apartments, and watch the sales counter click upward A HOMELY CITY You need to make sales total But there are no apartments in the city. Build some apartments, THEN build your businesses to make the sales. As the briefing says, build some apartments. Build one big enough for tenants. Then build the normal shops like clothing and bakery, and a night business on the next block. COMPETE FOR SALES You need to make sales, more competitors. Still pretty simple, but this time you get more competitors. The game will last a little longer. Still, make the simple shops, fit the needs of those citizens, and you should rack up those sales in no time. $ DAILY PROFIT Make $ daily profit. You can do this the hard way: build lots of shops and make sure you make a lot of money, or you can do this the easy way. Easy way: bid for all four railroads or all four utilities. That should be enough to push you over the $ daily profit Even if you are in the red. If you can grab ALL FOUR railroads before end of the day, you should win almost immediately. Else, build a shop or two FIRST TO BE WORTH $ Be first to be worth $ total empire value. This one can be a problem, if you grow wrong. It is difficult, even on easy level, to maintain the constant growth in the medium district to sustain the growth and keep your empire value on the top. If you overexpand, you may kick yourself out of the game due to bankruptcy. It is a delicate balancing act. GREATEST EMPIRE VALUE BY Have the highest empire value by This one can be a problem, if you grow wrong. It is difficult, even on easy level, to maintain the constant growth in the medium district to sustain the growth and keep your empire value on the top. If you over-expand, you may kick yourself out of the game due to bankruptcy. It is a delicate balancing act. FIRST TO BE MAYOR Be elected mayor (get 3 votes). Think of this as the "sales target" job, and you can do it easily. Make lots of sales, keep the populace happy. You should be able to win 3 rosettes in a row. SELL, SELL, SELL! Make sales before any one else. This game will last into the 's and perhaps longer. Build low-price stores like newspaper, records, etc. While stores like electrical, travel agent, and such make more money, they also sell less. Therefore, on sales target scenarios, make Walmarts, not boutique stores. LAST MAN STANDING Establish your presence in the city, similar to "voting for mayor". The best part about Last Man Standing is the last place person is kicked out, and their store becomes city property. So as less and less people remain, you usually win more and more votes. Stay out front, and you'll win handily. $ DAILY PROFIT This one will be difficult. You will need to be in control of the utilities and/or the railroads to do this, but first you need to generate enough daily profit to be able to acquire all these stuff. That will be the difficult part. Controls the utilities ASAP. Not only it minimizes your overhead, it also provides extra income. Even if you can't control all of them, controlling some of them still helps. Use the bidding cheat to control everything. When you do, your daily income should be or very near so right at 6AM Just make a few sales after that, and you're done. GREATEST EMPIRE VALUE BY This is a longer game, so you have chances to go after the utilities, if you can make enough money-generating businesses. I would suggest avoiding businesses like furniture, clothing, jewelry, and such, as those are very hard to price properly and still make a profit. Stick to simpler stuff like ice cream, bakery, butcher, and things like that. Use the bidding cheat to control the utilities and you've got the game pretty much won. Build only the most profitable businesses. FIRST TO BE WORTH $ Standard technique except you now have a chance to get Monopoly over certain districts. You can significantly force up your Empire Value

that way. Remember, it doesn't matter about your debt As long as your empire value goes up that high, you win. WIN MAYOR, 5 ROSSETTES This one is a tougher version of mission 7. This time, you need 5 rosettes, not just 3, to win as mayor. There's more competition, and longer period of time. You need to know when to refurbish old businesses to newer ones to fit newer needs. FIRST TO BE WORTH $ Same as Mission 12, except you get to play even longer This game may run into the 60's and 70's. LAST MAN STANDING 2 Ah, this is the OTHER last man standing game, and this time, things are tougher, as the game starts a bit later, with more buildings available. GREATEST EMPIRE VALUE BY Ah, the ultimate game What can I say? Remember to re- evaluate and refurbish businesses, bid and buy utilities You need to know EVERYTHING and use EVERY trick to win this one. good luck. 12 Miscellaneous SCENARIO EDITING All the scenario scripts are stored in the under scripts subdirectory. Put your stuff under "custom" subdirectory. CHEATING There are NO known cheat codes for Monopoly Tycoon. There is an "exploit" (or two, depends on how you count). If you save the game when it is your turn to auction, then reload the game, all the AI competitors will give up. (If one of them do not, just reload one more time), thus allowing you to control the block for a pittance. If you reload a saved game, the AI will likely do something completely different. If you save and reload the game multiple times per "game day", the AI will likely be paralyzed and confused. Original page: eunic-brussels.eu

Ugandan-born Sudhir Ruparelia worked menial jobs in the United Kingdom, saved up, returned to the country of his birth and built the largest property portfolio in the land 

The next time you find yourself walking or driving through the Central Business District of Kampala, Uganda’s bustling, cosmopolitan capital, take a moment to gaze up at the city’s impressive glistering skyline.

And if you bother to count the buildings one by one, chances are that you’ll count a decent number belonging to Sudhir Ruparelia, a Ugandan property developer, hotelier, banker and Africa’s newest billionaire.

Born in Uganda 56 years ago, Ruparelia was compelled to relocate to the United Kingdom with his parents when he was The year was and Uganda’s Indophobic leader at the time, Idi Amin had expelled all African-Asians from the East African country in an ethnic cleansing move. Idi Amin’s government claimed that indigenous Indians were hoarding wealth and goods to the detriment of indigenous African and were ‘sabotaging’ the economy. While in the United Kingdom, Ruparelia survived by doing menial jobs and diligently saving his earnings. By , when he was 29, he returned to Uganda armed with $25, in savings with which he started building the eponymous Ruparelia groupnow valued at about $ billion with interests in everything from hotels, residential real estate, insurance and floriculture to banks and educational institutions. His controlling stake in the Ruparelia group makes him Uganda’s richest man, with a net-worth of at least $ billion, according to data.

Legend has it that Sudhir Ruparelia, a 56 year-old ebullient, yet controversial Indian-Ugandan tycoon, owns half of the buildings in Kampala. Of course, this is a hyperbole of monumental proportions, but judging by the cheeky grin on his face, Ruparelia apparently relishes the exaggeration.

“If I owned half of the buildings in Kampala, I’d probably be god,” he says cheekily. “Reports of my property holdings are quite frankly, grossly exaggerated. I don’t own half of Kampala as people suggest, but I own quite a lot. And I’ve worked very hard for it,” he says the last sentence emphatically.

Speke Hotel Group

Ruparelia owns a significant chunk of Kampala’s most prestigious pieces of commercial and residential real estate and in some of the swankiest neighbourhoods in the country. Through one of his holding companies, Speke Hotel Group, he owns in his kitty, the Speke resort, a 5-star Hotel and resort which sits on 76 acres on an idyllic setting at Munyoyo on the shores of Lake Victoria. This is easily the most valuable asset in his extensive property portfolio. The resort has 59 Presidential suites, mainly because in , the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting took place there and 59 Heads of state were present. Sudhir says he built the resort specifically for the meeting. Other facilities include 10 state-of-the-art conference rooms, including a 1,seat ballroom and 9 multi-function meeting rooms accommodating groups of 10 to The resort also has Uganda’s only Olympic size swimming pool, an equestrian centre and a choice of bars and restaurants. The property has a current value of at least $ million according to Ruparelia, a figure corroborated by a couple of estate surveyors in Uganda. In , the Libyan Government had attempted to acquire the resort for $ million. Sudhir declined.

“The price was simply not good enough,” he recollects. “In any case, it would be hard for me to contemplate selling Speke resort. The place holds sentimental value for me. 59 Heads of Government were in this place. I think it’s hard to place a value on that,” Sudhir says.

While Speke Resort remains his most important property till date, Sudhir also owns an impressive collection of other valuable hotel assets. He owns the prestigious Kabira Country club which has 95 luxurious guest rooms. Kabira Country club is the preferred leisure spot of many of Uganda’s wealthiest people and young highflying professionals. Sudhir’s portfolio also includes Speke Hotel which is located in Kampala’s CBD and Tourist Hotel, a budget hotel also located in the CBD. He also owns Speke Apartments, which provide 27 modern serviced apartments in one of the best residential areas of Kampala. Rent at the apartments are not cheap – at least by Ugandan standards. The cheapest you’d pay for a one-bedroom apartment is $1, a month. And if you think the price is outrageous, the apartments are fully booked all the time, mostly by corporate executives, expatriates and government officials.

But these are just five of his properties. Through his real estate holding company, Meera Investments (which is named after his first daughter), Sudhir owns at least residential and commercial properties in Uganda, from the landmark Crane Chambers located on Kampala road in the CBD, which serves as the Headquarter for his many businesses to scores of other apartment blocks, shopping centers, office buildings and chunks of extremely valuable land in the city. He owns Baumann House, another landmark building in Kampala, located on Parliamentary Avenue, Kampala. The building houses the Headquarters of the Ugandan Police force and previously served as the office for over Members of Parliament in Kampala. Sudhir also owns 2 private Islands. In , Uganda’s President, Yoweri Museveni revealed that Sudhir earns $m per annum from his businesses, mostly from his real estate concerns.

Crane Bank

Sudhir Ruparelia is the founder and dominant shareholder in Crane Bank, Uganda’s second largest commercial bank.

The beginnings of Crane Bank were modest. When Sudhir Ruparelia returned to Uganda from the United Kingdom, he began importing popular brands of Kenyan alcohol with the $25, he had saved through his years of working menial jobs in the United Kingdom. Uganda had no breweries at the time and so the country depended largely on imports. Sudhir struck a coup when he acquired the sole rights to distribute Kenya’s most premium beer brands in Uganda. Along with importing alcoholic beverages, Ruparelia also ventured into importing commodities like salt, sugar and cigarettes from traders at the Mombasa ports.

At the time, the vast majority of Sudhir’s customers were foreign nationals who paid for their stock in foreign currency. Sudhir spotted opportunity. He quickly formed an informal foreign exchange business. It became an immediate success, and Sudhir was making daily profits of about $10,

“I knew I had hit something big,” he says.

By , President Yoweri Museveni banned the importation of beer in an effort to encourage indigenous manufacturing of alcohol. Sudhir decided he was not interested in producing beer. He opted to focus on his informal Forex business instead.

In , Sudhir formalized this currency trading business when he opened Crane Forex Bureau. It was the first of its kind in Uganda and it is still the biggest chain of Forex Bureaus in the country.

With the daily profits Sudhir was realizing from Crane Forex bureaus, he started buying up huge chunks of land and dilapidated commercial and residential structures in Kampala’s CBD and other suburbs at ridiculously low prices.

“Some of the properties I bought at the time were valued at about 30, 40, 50 thousand dollars. That was way back in the early 90s. Properties were cheap back then and we were making a lot of money on a daily basis, so I kept acquiring. Today, many of those properties are worth millions of dollars,” Sudhir explains.

It was during this period ( – ) that Ruparelia acquired a huge chunk of land and property in Kampala’s CBD, as well as several other choice properties which house his numerous hotel, tourism and residential interests. Sudhir says he acquired some properties for as little as $50, in and they are worth $12 million today. Many of the properties he owns made their value within 4 years. It’s with the rental income earned from these properties and his thriving forex business that Ruparelia continually acquired more properties at dirt cheap prices.

As Sudhir’s forex business became so large, he decided it was time to build an even bigger financial services corporation. He applied for a commercial banking license which was granted. By , Sudhir opened the doors of his new bank, Crane Bank to the general public. Sudhir used customer deposits to fund large-scale forex deals as well as acquisitions, developments and other activities in the Ruparelia Group while leveraging on impeccable customer service, attractive interest rates for deposits and the largest ATM network in Uganda to lure customers. Today, Crane Bank is the second largest commercial bank in Ugandan- second only to Stanbic Bank. In , the Bank’s Profit before tax (PBT) was UGX billion ($40m) representing about 61 percent of Stanbic’s pre-tax profit of $ million. Sudhir is the controlling shareholder of Crane Bank.

Other Assets

Other companies in the Ruparelia group include Goldstar Insurance, an Ugandan non-life Insurance firm. The Ruparelia Group also owns Kampala International School (KISU), an international high school in Kampala located in the high-brow Bukoto district. KIS’ students are children of Uganda’s elite and the school fees per annum are as high $ The property sits on 12 acres of prime land at the center of Kampala. The property the school sits on is valued at over $15 million alone. He also owns Kampala Parents School, a secondary school in Kampala for middle-class Ugandans and Rosebud, Uganda’s largest exporter of roses. Rosebud commands around 35% of Uganda’s rose export, exporting over 9 million stems per month.

Controversy

In , a Canadian businessman Sadrudin Gulamhussein claimed Sudhir attempted to fraudulently acquire Gulanhussein’s $ million property by forging a land title for the property located in Nasakero, a highbrow residential area in Kampala. The case lingered in court and the Judge ruled in favour of the Canadian businessman.

Philanthropy

As Uganda’s richest man, Sudhir is also one of the country’s most notable philanthropists. Sudhir has given away millions to building churches, mosques, rehabilitating schools and funding hospitals.

*Breakdown Of Sudhir Ruparelia’s Key Assets*

Meera Investments – $ million

Crane Bank – $ million

Speak Hotel Group – $ million

Rosebud – $10 million

Other Investments (Schools, Personal Homes) – $30 million

Total: $ Billion

Source: Venture-Africa

Disgraced cryptocurrency tycoon Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested Monday in the Bahamas at the request of the United States, according to US officials seeking to charge him after the spectacular collapse of his FTX platform.

The arrest comes on the eve of Bankman-Fried’s scheduled appearance at a US Congress hearing in which he was to testify under oath about the crypto exchange’s overnight demise.

The year-old had in recent weeks defied legal advice and multiplied media appearances offering his version of his company’s sudden failure, usually by video link from the Bahamas where his company is headquartered.

“Earlier this evening, Bahamian authorities arrested Samuel Bankman-Fried at the request of the US Government, based on a sealed indictment filed by the southern district of New York,” said a tweeted statement from Damian Williams, lead prosecutor for the district.

“We expect to move to unseal the indictment in the morning and will have more to say at that time,” he added.

According to a press release from the attorney general’s office in the Bahamas, Bankman-Fried was to be held in custody before an expected request for his extradition by the United States.

The Bahamas prime minister’s office shared news of the arrest, as well as a police statement saying Bankman-Fried was arrested in the early evening at his apartment complex in the capital Nassau.

He was taken into custody without incident, the statement said, and was to appear in court in Nassau on Tuesday.

As much as anyone, Bankman-Fried had embodied the apparent emergence of cryptocurrency as an above-board investment and no longer a frowned on get-rich-quick scheme shunned by the banking establishment.

His FTX platform was plugged by celebrities in advertising campaigns and the cyber whiz kid became a regular presence in Washington where he donated tens of millions of dollars in political contributions.

But after reaching a valuation of $32 billion, FTX’s implosion was swift following a November 2 report on ties between FTX and Alameda, a trading company also controlled by Bankman-Fried.

The report exposed that Alameda’s balance sheet was heavily built on the FTT currency — a token created by FTX and with no independent value.

‘Grossly inexperienced’

The price of FTT plunged in early November, roiling both Alameda and FTX, where Alameda had large trading positions.

Reeling from customer withdrawals and short some $8 billion, FTX and some related entities filed for bankruptcy protection on November 11, inviting scrutiny from regulators, prosecutors and furious clients who had believed the hype about cryptocurrency.

Among the revelations, FTX is suspected of fraud for propping up Alameda with billions of dollars in customer funds that are now likely lost forever.

Questions also linger over whether Bankman-Fried engaged in market manipulation, or illegally provided inside information to Alameda.

“If convicted he could be facing the rest of his life in prison, given the dollar amount of the fraud,” Jacob S. Frenkel, a former federal criminal prosecutor at Dickinson Wright, told AFP.

“We would not see an indictment if prosecutors were not absolutely convinced that they will win a conviction,” he added.

In his media interviews, Bankman-Fried has admitted to mistakes but has denied intent to defraud his customers.

FTX CEO John Ray, who came to the company after the debacle, was to tell Congress on Tuesday that the problems arose because control was “in the hands of a very small group of grossly inexperienced and unsophisticated individuals”.

“Never in my career have I seen such an utter failure of corporate controls at every level of an organisation, from the lack of financial statements to a complete failure of any internal controls or governance whatsoever,” Ray said in prepared remarks.

The fall of FTX has caused major doublong-term long term viability of cryptocurrency and heaped stress on other platforms and entities that rode the success of Bitcoin and other currencies.

Explore Your Financial Landscape with Personalized Credit Insights.

First Read

Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff

Blue Ocean Technologies, LLC (BOT) and MEMX have announced a technology partnership to enhance the Blue Ocean ATS global trading platform. Under the agreement, MEMX will provide its market-as-a-service trading system to bolster the platform, with implementation scheduled by the end of Q1

Former NYSE executive Larry Leibowitz&#;s brother has his old job back and a promotion. Comedian Jon Stewart&#;s return to &#;The Daily Show&#; as both host and executive producer has sparked significant anticipation. During his previous year tenure, Stewart, who is Leibowitz&#;s brother (Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz), transformed the show into a powerful cultural and entertainment phenomenon, the Financial Times reports. His comeback, scheduled to run on Mondays beginning February 12, coincides with the intensifying presidential election season. Stewart&#;s involvement not only promises to inject humor and insight into the political discourse but also sets the stage for the show&#;s expansion, with rotating comedians taking the reins from Tuesday through Thursday. This return has the potential to shape public discourse and offer a fresh perspective on the upcoming election.

The Financial Times has released a special report on Sustainable Food and Agriculture, shedding light on various critical aspects of the industry. The report delves into the issue of food deserts affecting disadvantaged communities in the United States, where campaigners are working tirelessly to address the problem. It also explores Denmark&#;s innovative approach to encouraging low-meat diets through policy incentives. Additionally, the report highlights the efforts of plant scientists to enhance African staple crops like teff and cassava to combat hunger. It examines the debate around no-till farming and its potential impact on soil disturbance. Furthermore, the report discusses the challenges faced by Italy&#;s winemakers due to climate change and the role of women in agriculture, with a growing emphasis on technology and sustainability. The report is supported by Rabobank and offers valuable insights into venture capital interest in regenerative agriculture.

The Financial Times editorial board wrote a commentary that warns that if Donald Trump secures the Republican party&#;s presidential nomination for the election, America&#;s allies should not be caught off guard as they were in Former President Trump&#;s recent victory in the New Hampshire primary indicates his strong position, the FT says. The commentary highlights the need for global allies to be prepared for the potential return of an unpredictable isolationist to the White House, given the swift nomination process, which allows allies nearly a year for strategic planning.

The Securities and Exchange Commission Historical Society reappointed 10 people to the board of advisors&#; class of , including: Eric C. Chaffee; Merritt A. Cole; Claudius B. Modesti; Doug Davison; Daniel L. Goelzer; Michael D. Mann; John McCarthy; Brian L. Rubin; Steven S. Scholes and John H. Walsh. Also, the SEC Historical Society welcomed 13 new members to its board of advisors including: Michele M. Anderson, Asheesh Goel, Stephanie R. Hager, Alexandros Kazimirov, Arthur B. Laby, Joan E. McKown, Helane Morrison, Jane Norberg, Jerome Tomas, Kevin Vaughn, David Woodcock, Karen Woody, & David Peavler. You can see the complete list of advisors HERE.

Go long electricity and short natural gas in Chicago if Mayor Brandon Johnson&#;s proposed ordinance passes. The Chicago mayor is throwing his support behind an ordinance aimed at effectively banning natural gas in new construction within the city. The proposed ordinance, backed by the mayor, seeks to impose stringent emissions standards as part of Chicago&#;s efforts to combat climate change, The Chicago Tribune reports.

CME Group is looking to add to its data sales team in New York. If you are someone who is passionate about benchmark rates, this job might be for you.

Have a great day and stay safe and treat people the same way you want to be treated: with respect, equality and justice.~JJL

*****

Congratulations to Massimo Cutuli, who was appointed chief financial risk officer-elect at the OCC, the OCC announced today. Cutuli will succeed the current CFRO, Dale Michaels, who is set to retire in March. Cutuli was most recently chief risk officer at Optiver US LLC.~SR

Our most read stories from our previous edition of JLN Options were:
&#; How the Best Hedge Funds Are Smoking the Competition from Barron&#;s.
&#; Risk vs. volatility: What&#;s the difference from Business Insider.
&#; Options Traders Bet Trump-Tied SPAC Can Double Again in Days from Bloomberg via Yahoo Finance. ~JB

Subscribe to the JLN Options Newsletter HERE (it&#;s free).

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Russian investor made millions off insider trading tied to Trump Media, court docs say
Ben Wieder and Jay Weaver &#; The Miami Herald
A Russian-American businessman based in Miami is suspected of making nearly $23 million from alleged insider trading involving former President Donald Trump&#;s media company, according to federal court records.
/eunic-brussels.eu

***** There are some headlines that offer no shock value anymore.~JJL

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Half of recent US inflation due to high corporate profits, report finds
Tom Perkins &#; The Guardian
A new report claims &#;resounding evidence&#; shows that high corporate profits are a main driver of ongoing inflation, and companies continue to keep prices high even as their inflationary costs drop. The report, compiled by the progressive Groundwork Collaborative thinktank, found corporate profits accounted for about 53% of inflation during last year&#;s second and third quarters. Profits drove just 11% of price growth in the 40 years prior to the pandemic, according to the report.
/eunic-brussels.eu

****** Greedflation is a thing. There was cover to raise prices and corporations did.~JJL

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Wednesday&#;s Top Three
Our top story on Wednesday was UBS names new head of $ trillion asset management business, from Reuters. Second was Japan Regulator Will Probe Risks to Banks From Higher Rates, from Bloomberg. Third was Donald Trump Sold $ Million Ethereum: Smart Move Or Big Mistake? from Benzinga.

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Lead Stories

ION Tycoon Built Fintech Empire With Billions of Dollars in Private Debt; ION borrowed about $3 billion, mostly from private lender HPS; Italian government has scrutinized fintech empire&#;s leverage
Tommaso Ebhardt, Giulia Morpurgo, Luca Casiraghi, Davide Scigliuzzo, Daniele Lepido, and Sonia Sirletti &#; Bloomberg
Andrea Pignataro&#;s ION Group borrowed billions of dollars from US private lender HPS Investment Partners in recent years to fuel an acquisition spree, adding a layer of expensive loans to the pile of publicly traded debt already weighing on the Italian tycoon&#;s fintech empire. ION has taken about $3 billion of private loans, mostly provided by the New York-based fund, according to an analysis of its most recent financial accounts by Bloomberg News and people familiar with the matter.
/eunic-brussels.eu

ADM Unit Being Probed Helped Make Leaders Over $70 Million
Tarso Veloso and Anders Melin &#; Bloomberg
The division of Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. that&#;s under investigation for its accounting practices is responsible for less than 10% of the crop giant&#;s revenue. Yet it has had an outsized influence on recent executive bonuses, records show. ADM&#;s board in and staked a considerable share of senior executives&#; stock award payouts to the profitability growth of its nutrition unit. The company blew past the goals for the first round of awards, helping the executives collect shares worth more than $70 million. Payouts for the second round of awards were set to be determined early this year.
/eunic-brussels.eu

EU financial chief says bloc will follow US in cutting settlement times; McGuinness says shortening window to finalise share trades a matter of &#;when and how&#;
Nikou Asgari &#; Financial Times
Stock markets in the EU will follow the US in shortening the time to settle trades, the bloc&#;s financial services chief said on Thursday, with the key issue now &#;when and how we move&#;. Mairead McGuinness, EU commissioner of financial services and stability, also opened the door to co-operate with the UK on the sweeping project to modernise financial markets.
/eunic-brussels.eu

Top Wall Street regulator floats shorter forex trading cycle
Reuters
Global financial regulators should consider shortening the time during which foreign exchange trades are resolved to a single day, U.S. Securities and Exchange Chair Gary Gensler said Thursday. Gensler&#;s remarks to a European Commission roundtable come as the United States prepares to switch to a shorter trading cycle for stocks, with new rules due to take effect in May requiring that stock trades must conclude within a day of when an order is placed. Current requirements allow two days.
/eunic-brussels.eu

Fed is shutting down $ billion facility that banks had arbitraged
Steve Goldstein &#; MarketWatch
The end of an emergency Federal Reserve funding program has eliminated what had been increasingly profitable arbitrage that banks were exploiting. The Fed late on Wednesday announced that the Bank Term Funding Program, set up during last spring&#;s regional banking crisis, will end on March Importantly, it also said new loans made before the program ends will be made at no lower than the interest rate on reserve balances.
/eunic-brussels.eu

Credit Traders Are Using Default Swaps to Hedge Their Bets On Interest Rates
Tasos Vossos &#; Bloomberg
Nomura Asset Management&#;s Richard Hodges began the year by buying credit default swaps, worried that rate cut bets were becoming too aggressive. He reduced the hedge when the cost of protection increased, and now stands ready to dip in again. He&#;s among money managers using CDS indexes to insure against the pain that could be unleashed if central bankers fail to deliver what bond traders have already priced in for the year. For these investors, moderating expectations on rate cuts will boost government bond yields, which would in turn hit spreads on corporate debt. But instead of selling bonds that could be harder to buy back down the line, they&#;re hedging any volatility with liquid CDS contracts.
/eunic-brussels.eu

Desperate Chinese Investors Are Pouring Into the U.S., Japan; Alarmed Chinese fund managers briefly halted trading in certain ETFs as prices skyrocketed
Rebecca Feng &#; The Wall Street Journal
Chinese individual investors want to shift their money out of the country-and they are willing to pay a big premium to do so. The best example of their desperation: Some this week have been buying funds that offer exposure to Japanese stocks at a 20% premium to what those stocks are worth. An exchange-traded fund launched by China Asset Management Co. traded at a 14% to 20% premium to its indicative net asset value over the first three days of the week.
/eunic-brussels.eu

China&#;s $6 Trillion Stock Wipeout Exposes Deeper Problems for Xi; It&#;s a public reminder that confidence in the Chinese economy is at its lowest ebb in decades.
Bloomberg News
China&#;s $6 trillion stock market rout reveals a painful truth for President Xi Jinping&#;s government: People are hopelessly gloomy about the outlook for the world&#;s second-largest economy, and their pessimism is becoming increasingly hard to ignore. This month&#;s heavy selloff in China&#;s benchmark CSI Index brings its plunge to a brutal 40% over the past three years, deepening anguish in a market dominated by mom-and-pop investors. A government rescue package under consideration backed by about 2 trillion yuan ($ billion), first reported by Bloomberg News, and a sudden bank reserve ratio cut show that authorities are growing anxious to stem the rout.
/eunic-brussels.eu

OCC Appoints Former Optiver Executive as Chief Financial Risk Officer-Elect; Massimo Cutuli will succeed current CFRO Dale Michaels, who is set to retire in March
OCC
OCC, the world&#;s largest equity derivatives clearing organization, today announced that Massimo Cutuli has joined OCC as Chief Financial Risk Officer-Elect and will succeed current CFRO Dale Michaels following his upcoming retirement. &#;We are very pleased to welcome Massimo to OCC&#;s leadership team,&#; said Andrej Bolkovic, OCC Chief Executive Officer. &#;This appointment demonstrates our continued ability to attract top talent to further enhance our resiliency as a systemically important financial market utility that provides vital stability and risk management to the U.S. listed options market. Massimo&#;s expertise will help OCC further strengthen our risk management capabilities as we continue to enhance our service to market participants.&#;
/eunic-brussels.eu

SEC should reconsider proposed rules on capital lock-ups; Mooted changes could have a negative impact on how the US Treasuries market functions
Darrell Duffie &#; Financial Times
To maintain financial stability and protect investors, it is critical that companies dealing in government securities are well capitalised at all times. That seems a clear and obvious goal for regulators. But changes to regulations proposed by the Securities and Exchange Commission may have unintended consequences in this regard, potentially damaging the world&#;s most important financial market.
/eunic-brussels.eu

Pastor Got His Crypto Scam Audited; Also private market restrictions, shell companies, North Korean crypto hacking and workplace excellence.
Matt Levine &#; Bloomberg
Often, if you are marketing an investment, it helps to have your thing validated by some trusted third party. If you&#;ve got a company and you want investors, it&#;s good to send them financial statements that have been audited by a well-known accounting firm. If you&#;re selling bonds, it&#;s good to have a high credit rating from a recognized ratings firm. If you&#;re a software company, it is good to have a security audit from a reputable firm.
/eunic-brussels.eu

SEC Delays BlackRock&#;s Spot Ethereum ETF Decision
Hope C &#; CoinMarketCap
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has delayed its decision on BlackRock&#;s proposed spot Ether (ETH) exchange-traded fund (ETF), citing the need for more time to review the proposed rule change. The delay, announced one day ahead of the January 25 deadline, marks the first of several delays the SEC can exercise across a day period. This first deadline comes nearly 45 days after BlackRock filed for an iShares Ethereum Trust through Nasdaq on December
/eunic-brussels.eu

SEC Wants Some Banks to Disclose More on Commercial Real-Estate Exposure; Regional and community lenders with property portfolios are among those facing questions from the securities regulator over risks from the embattled CRE sector
Mark Maurer &#; The Wall Street Journal
The Securities and Exchange Commission is questioning some community and regional banks about their exposure to commercial real estate in their loan portfolios, as potential losses on the loans could spur them to further cut lending. The SEC released four letter exchanges in the past week or so in which it questioned smaller financial firms about their CRE exposure in loan portfolios. The SEC last year sent letters to banks to request more clarity in their disclosures around the potential consequences from the failures of First Republic Bank, Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.
/eunic-brussels.eu

Asian Financial Forum: Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia agree to deepen collaboration between their financial markets on first day of annual event&#;s 17th edition
South China Morning Post
Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia signed an agreement to strengthen collaboration between their financial markets on Wednesday, at the opening of the 17th annual Asian Financial Forum (AFF). A memorandum of understanding was signed between Saudi&#;s Financial Sector Development Program (FSDP) and Hong Kong&#;s Financial Services Development Council (FSDC). The FSDP was launched in with the aim of creating a diversified financial services sector in Saudi. The FSDC was founded in with the aim of further developing Hong Kong&#;s financial services industry.
/eunic-brussels.eu

Chinese retail investors hit by big losses in &#;snowball&#; derivatives; Wipeout in contracts sold as safe investments is feeding erosion of confidence in domestic stocks, analysts say
Cheng Leng &#; Financial Times
Chinese retail investors who loaded up on derivatives that rely on calm market conditions have been hit with heavy losses, further undermining confidence in the country&#;s sputtering equity eunic-brussels.eu-called snowballs, which promise a stream of sizeable interest payments as long as stock indices trade within a certain range, have grown to an estimated Rmbbn ($45bn) market in China.
/eunic-brussels.eu

Fight brewing over Biden climate funds that help farmers in Republican-leaning states
Leah Douglas &#; Reuters
An effort by Republican U.S. lawmakers to reallocate $18 billion in climate-friendly agriculture funding under President Joe Biden&#;s signature climate law would shift money away from programs that primarily benefit farmers in Republican-leaning states, a Reuters analysis found. The Inflation Reduction Act money, earmarked for U.S. Department of Agriculture-designated &#;climate-smart&#; farm practices, is intended to support Biden&#;s agriculture climate agenda, which relies heavily on storing carbon in the soil and lowering emissions through sustainable farming techniques.
/eunic-brussels.eu

Bakkt crypto capabilities activated across multiple international regions; Bakkt broadens footprint across Latin America and enters Asia with new expansions
Bakkt Holdings, Inc
Bakkt Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: BKKT) announced today its activation of crypto capabilities in several new international markets in Asia, Europe, North America and South America with existing clients Hapi and SogoTrade. Bakkt and stock trading platform Hapi have broadened their active crypto trading capabilities throughout Latin America, now live in Brazil and Guatemala, as well as Spain. This furthers their working relationship, building on already-live capabilities in Argentina and Mexico.
/eunic-brussels.eu

Ukraine Invasion

Ukrainian Saboteur Walked Miles to Destroy Russia&#;s Tu Bomber
Brendan Cole &#; Newsweek
In a rare admission of operational details, military intelligence in Kyiv has described how a unit walked hundreds of miles in enemy territory to help destroy Russian aircraft that had been bombing Ukraine. Defense Intelligence of Ukraine (GUR) made the revelation in posthumously honoring Colonel Oleh Babiy, 43, for his resolve in fighting Russian aggression. The GUR said since the start of Vladimir Putin&#;s full-scale invasion, Babiy had led his unit to conduct special operations in the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine, as well as in Russian territory, &#;which changed the course of this war.&#;
/eunic-brussels.eu

Ukraine&#;s Black Sea grain export success tested by Red Sea crisis
Gus Trompiz and Pavel Polityuk &#; Reuters
Ukraine has managed to boost its Black Sea grain exports to a level not seen since before Russia&#;s invasion, although the Red Sea shipping crisis poses a new challenge to its crucial agricultural trade. Kyiv&#;s success in replacing a UN-backed Black Sea export deal with its own shipping scheme has brought relief for Ukrainian farmers and importing countries while representing a naval breakthrough for Ukraine&#;s military as a land counteroffensive has stalled.
/eunic-brussels.eu

US Senate panel backs &#;big hammer&#; plan to seize Russian assets to help Ukraine
Patricia Zengerle &#; Reuters
A U.S. Senate committee approved legislation on Wednesday that would help set the stage for the United States to confiscate Russian assets and hand them over to Ukraine for rebuilding after the destruction of the nearly two-year-long war. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 20 to 1 in favor of the unprecedented &#;Rebuilding Economic Prosperity and Opportunity (REPO) for Ukrainians Act.&#; If it were to pass the full Senate and House of Representatives and be signed into law by President Joe Biden, as expected, the act would pave the way for Washington&#;s first-ever seizure of central bank assets from a country with which it is not at war.
/eunic-brussels.eu

Ukraine Denies It&#;s Ready to Extend Gas Transit Deal With Russia
Bloomberg
Ukraine denied it would be ready to renegotiate a key gas pipeline deal with Russia that expires at the end of this year after Slovakia&#;s Prime Minister said it was a possibility. Russian gas continues to flow to the European Union through Ukraine under the current deal. Some nations still rely on this fuel, while most of northwest Europe has replaced flows from Moscow with cargoes of liquefied natural gas.
/eunic-brussels.eu

U.S. Issues $15 Million Bounty Targeting Alleged Iran Drone Middleman; A newly announced reward is aimed at disrupting the network of an Iranian businessman who has helped source technology for military drones
Richard Vanderford &#; The Wall Street Journal
The U.S. said it would pay up to $15 million for tips on Hossein Hatefi Ardakani, an Iranian businessman who is alleged to have helped acquire technology for attack drones sold to Russia. The move to put out a bounty for information on an alleged export-control violation comes after the U.S. sanctioned and charged Ardakani, chair of an electronics company, over his alleged work sourcing dual-use technology for drone production by Iran&#;s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
/eunic-brussels.eu

Most of Russia&#;s War Chips Are Made by US and European Companies; Customs data show Russia imported chips made in US, EU in ; Re-exports from third countries weaken sanctions on Russia
Alberto Nardelli &#; Bloomberg
/eunic-brussels.eu

Israel/Palestine Conflict

Qatar rebukes &#;irresponsible&#; Netanyahu over apparent criticism of Gulf state; Israeli prime minister called Doha a &#;problematic&#; intermediary in leaked recording of meeting with hostage relatives
Neri Zilber and Andrew England &#; Financial Times
Qatar has accused Benjamin Netanyahu of being &#;irresponsible and destructive&#;, saying leaked remarks by the Israeli prime minister criticising the Gulf state risked undermining efforts to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas. Doha, which has been leading the diplomacy to broker a hostage deal between Israel and Hamas, was reacting to a recording of a meeting between Netanyahu and relatives of Israeli hostages aired on Israel&#;s Channel 12 this week. The long-serving prime minister can be heard calling Qatar a &#;problematic&#; intermediary and urging the families to increase international pressure on Doha.
/eunic-brussels.eu

Why Ukraine and Gaza Are Even Bigger Than You Think
Thomas L. Friedman &#; The New York Times
There are many ways to explain the two biggest conflicts in the world today, but my own shorthand has been that Ukraine wants to join the West and Israel wants to join the Arab East &#; and Russia, with Iran&#;s help, is trying to stop the first, and Iran and Hamas are trying to stop the second.
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Israel Tries to Rebut Genocide Charge by Declassifying Cabinet Decisions; South Africa has accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza. Israel&#;s legal team has challenged the charge by providing the court with secret orders made by Israel&#;s civilian and military leaders.
Patrick Kingsley &#; The New York Times
Israel has declassified more than 30 secret orders made by government and military leaders, which it says rebut the charge that it committed genocide in Gaza, and instead show Israeli efforts to diminish deaths among Palestinian civilians. The release of the documents, copies of which were reviewed by The New York Times, follows a petition to the International Court of Justice by South Africa, which has accused Israel of genocide. Much of South Africa&#;s case hinges on inflammatory public statements made by Israeli leaders that it says are proof of intent to commit genocide.
/eunic-brussels.eu

Exchanges, OTC and Clearing

Thai stock exchange to expedite delistings to clean up bourse; Government has not utilized Thai capital market enough, says SET president
Francesca Regalado &#; Nikkei Asia
The Stock Exchange of Thailand has outlined new rules and procedures to monitor listed companies and prevent fraud in an effort to shake off investor mistrust that led to Thailand&#;s finish as Asia&#;s worst-performing market in The SET index dropped % last year amid halting recoveries for manufacturing and tourism plus decade-high interest rates. Political uncertainty, a delayed government budget, corporate scandals and defaults also weighed down investor sentiment, with SET President Pakorn Peetathawatchai calling it a &#;perfect storm.&#;
/eunic-brussels.eu

Indian companies can now list directly on GIFT City&#;s international exchanges
Rhik Kundu &#; Mint
The finance ministry on Wednesday notified direct listing of Indian companies on GIFT City&#;s exchanges, a move expected to enable startups and unlisted companies access global capital. Indian companies can now list on the financial hub&#;s India International Exchange and NSE International Exchange at Gandhinagar, the ministry said.
/eunic-brussels.eu

CME & DTCC Enhanced Cross-Margining Goes Live
MarketsMedia
CME Group, the world&#;s leading derivatives marketplace, and The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), the premier post-trade market infrastructure for the global financial services industry, announced their enhanced cross-margining arrangement has gone live, enabling capital efficiencies for clearing members that trade and clear both U.S. Treasury securities and CME Group Interest Rate futures.
/eunic-brussels.eu

Nasdaq Announces Mid-Month Open Short Interest Positions in Nasdaq Stocks as of Settlement Date January 12,
Nasdaq
At the end of the settlement date of January 12, , short interest in 3, Nasdaq Global MarketSM securities totaled 10,,, shares compared with 10,,, shares in 3, Global Market issues reported for the prior settlement date of December 29, The mid-January short interest represents days compared with days for the prior reporting period.
/eunic-brussels.eu

Changes in Nifty Fixed Income indices
National Stock Exchange of India
The Index Maintenance Sub-Committee (Debt) of NSE Indices Limited has decided to make changes as listed hereunder. These changes shall become effective from January 31,
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Fintech

Blue Ocean Technologies Selects MEMX As Technology Partner to Power Blue Ocean ATS; Proven Trading System Software to Become Platform Backbone
Blue Ocean Technologies, LLC
Blue Ocean Technologies, LLC (BOT), a unique capital markets fintech leader in global afterhours trading, and MEMX, a market operator founded by a diverse group of participants to benefit all investors, announced today they have reached an agreement for a technology partnership. As part of the arrangement, MEMX will provide BOT its sophisticated market-as-a-service trading system to operate the Blue Ocean ATS global trading platform. The technology will be implemented by the end of Q1
/eunic-brussels.eu

KBFG Securities America Inc. Selects the Sterling Trading Tech Order Management System to Expand Access into US Equities Including 24&#;5 Trading via Blue Ocean Technologies
Sterling Trading Tech
Sterling Trading Tech (STT), a leading provider of trading technology including a proprietary order management system, a risk and margin system, and trading platforms for the capital markets worldwide, is pleased to announce a significant benchmark in its international growth by offering the STT order management system to KBFG Securities America Inc. This partnership underscores STT&#;s commitment to serving as a true technology partner to clients who are looking for a reliable OMS to streamline their operations and increase efficiency. KBFG will leverage STT&#;s high-performance order management system to offer U.S. equities and access to Blue Ocean ATS trading to their clients.
/eunic-brussels.eu

BestEx Research Launches IS Zero, Reinventing VWAP Algorithms for Low-Urgency Trading
BestEx Research
BestEx Research Group LLC, a pioneer in high-performance algorithmic trading solutions, proudly announces the launch of IS Zero. This innovative algorithm marks a significant advancement in the landscape of algorithmic trading, offering a more effective alternative to the long-standing volume-weighted average price (VWAP) algorithm for minimizing implementation shortfall (IS).
/eunic-brussels.eu

T+1 testing progressing well despite &#;minor setup issues,&#; finds DTCC; Testing schedule began in August , providing industry players nine months and 21 cycles of testing ahead of scheduled shift to T+1 in May.
Chris Lemmon &#; The Trade
Industry testing for T+1 is progressing well, the DTCC has confirmed, with strong involvement across market participants. Speaking on a SIFMA webinar in collaboration with the Association of Global Custodians (AGC), David Kirby, executive director, Americas relationship management and global account management at the DTCC, said that aside from some &#;minor setup issues&#;, testing has gone how firms have expected it to go.
/eunic-brussels.eu

BMLL makes three historical datasets available via Snowflake Marketplace; Move follows establishment of a partnership between the two firms last year and will help support BMLL&#;s mission to improve access to order book data globally.
Wesley Bray &#; The Trade
BMLL has made three datasets available via the Snowflake Marketplace, completing the first phase of its programme to expand customers&#; ability to discover, access and evaluate datasets. Namely, the initial datasets are Daily Classified Trades, Level 2 Quotes and Millisecond CBBO. The move follows the two firms entering into a partnership in September last year to deliver BMLL&#;s data and analytics to market participants worldwide.
/eunic-brussels.eu

AI Needs So Much Power That Old Coal Plants Are Sticking Around; Power companies are scrambling to satisfy the needs of data centers and new factories in a country where the grid is already strained.
Saijel Kishan and Josh Saul &#; Bloomberg
In a square-mile patch of northern Virginia that&#;s been dubbed &#;data center alley,&#; the boom in artificial intelligence is turbocharging electricity use. Struggling to keep up, the power company that serves the area temporarily paused new data center connections at one point in Virginia&#;s environmental regulators considered a plan to allow data centers to run diesel generators during power shortages, but backed off after it drew strong community opposition.
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AI&#;s Greatest Danger? The Humans Who Use It; How exactly AI will change the world is hard to say, but the history of the printing press may provide some clues.
Tyler Cowen &#; Bloomberg
When it comes to artificial intelligence, I am an optimist. In fairness, this may be something of an understatement: Over the past year and a half, I have argued that AI will improve education, boost productivity, enrich the internet, make markets more stable and land more valuable, accelerate the pace of scientific progress and increase social trust. I remain optimistic. Nonetheless, I do have worries about AI &#; or, to be more precise, about how we will respond to it. There is one big thing, if I may indulge again my inclination for understatement: AI will overturn the existing world order, and we are not very well prepared for it.
/eunic-brussels.eu

The AI revolution is generating some investor &#;hallucinations&#; too; Big tech firms are muscling in on funding the future, pushing Silicon Valley VCs out of the way
John Thornhill &#; Financial Times
A brassy new venture capital investor, going by the ugly acronym Mang, has been making a lot of noise in Silicon Valley. Microsoft, Amazon, Nvidia and Google, four of the five biggest US companies by market value, have become the dominant investors in the hottest artificial intelligence start-ups. In doing so, they have been increasingly muscling out the traditional Sand Hill Road VC merchants, who like to think they know best how to fund the future.
/eunic-brussels.eu

White House science chief signals US-China co-operation on AI safety; Biden adviser says the two nations must work together to tackle risks from artificial intelligence despite race to dominate its development
Madhumita Murgia &#; Financial Times
/eunic-brussels.eu

Cybersecurity

Latest Cyberattack Leaves Banks Stuck With Excel and a Headache
Katherine Doherty and Donal Griffin &#; Bloomberg
Another cyberattack against the unglamorous platforms underpinning Wall Street left one of global banks&#; biggest businesses falling back on an old-fashioned method of doing business. Securities-lending teams at two major lenders had to resort to manually inputting certain stock loans and other transactions into spreadsheets after financial-technology firm EquiLend succumbed to a ransomware attack, according to people familiar with the matter.
/eunic-brussels.eu

Iranian hackers target Middle East experts &#; Microsoft report; The Iranian hackers are known to target journalists, researchers, professors, or other individuals &#;with insights or perspective on security and policy issues of interest to Tehran,&#; the report said.
Jerusalem Post Staff
&#;High-profile&#; experts working on Middle Eastern affairs at universities and research organizations in the US, UK, Belgium, France, Israel, and even Gaza have been targeted by hackers allegedly connected to the Iranian government, according to a new report from Microsoft. The report alleges that a subset of a hacking group they call Mint Sandstorm has targeted experts since November using a phishing scheme &#; which involves sending targets deceptive links or forms to induce individuals to reveal personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.
/eunic-brussels.eu

Dark web hackers target Catholic Charities: Archdiocese of Miami; Nonprofit&#;s data stolen, no ransom paid
Localcom
Dark web hackers recently stole data belonging to the Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami and forced the nonprofit to hire cybersecurity specialists. The nonprofit organization experienced a cyberintrusion on Nov. 28 and law enforcement reported on Dec. 18 that the data was for sale on the dark web, according to the archdiocese. &#;We have no evidence that the stolen data was sold,&#; Peter Routsis-Arroyo, the organization&#;s chief executive officer, wrote in a recent letter to the board of directors. Routsis-Arroyo also reported that the Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami did not pay any ransom.
/eunic-brussels.eu

North Korea crypto hacking activity soars to record high in , new report shows
Sheila Chiang &#; CNBC
North Korea-linked hackers attacked a record number of crypto platforms in , according to Chainalysis in its latest report on Wednesday. Data collected from to showed that North Korea hacked 20 crypto platforms last year &#; the highest level recorded in that time period, according to the blockchain analytics firm. North Korea-affiliated hackers stole slightly over $1 billion worth of crypto assets last year, which was lower than the record $ billion stolen by North Korea-affiliated hackers in
/eunic-brussels.eu

Cryptocurrencies

New FTX Bankruptcy Probe Should Be Limited and Fast, Judge Says; Judge responds to appeals court order to appoint examiner; Examiner to review thoroughness of previous investigations
Steven Church &#; Bloomberg
A federal judge moved to limit the cost and length of a new outside investigation of FTX Trading, the fraud-tainted crypto firm, saying its insolvency case should not be disrupted by another multimillion-dollar probe. US Bankruptcy Judge John Dorsey sided with lawyers for FTX and its creditors, who argued that the new investigation ordered by an appellate court should be short and limited in scope. Earlier this month, a federal appeals court in Philadelphia ordered the appointment of an examiner for the Chapter 11 case, but left the details of any investigation up to Dorsey.
/eunic-brussels.eu

Central player in crypto collapse files for bankruptcy
Crystal Kim &#; Axios
Terraform Labs filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Sunday. Why it matters: The company and founder at the heart of the crypto collapse have so far evaded the scrutiny that bankruptcy proceedings have brought to other crypto firms and executives that fell in its wake.
/eunic-brussels.eu

A Colorado pastor says God told him to launch a crypto venture. He&#;s now accused of pocketing $ million from his followers
Faith Karimi &#; CNN
Denver pastor Eli Regalado had an exciting message for his congregation. After months of prayers and cues from God, he was going to start selling cryptocurrency, he announced in a YouTube video last April. The Signature and Silvergate banks had collapsed weeks earlier, signaling the need to look into other investment options beyond financial institutions, he said. With divine wisdom, he said, he was &#;setting the rails for God&#;s wealth transfer.&#;
/eunic-brussels.eu

Crypto Whales Hunt for Bargains As Bitcoin Prices Slide, Data Shows
Omkar Godbole &#; CoinDesk
Crypto whales, entities with ample token holdings, appear to be snapping up bitcoin [BTC] at cheaper prices as the leading cryptocurrency continues to slide in the aftermath of the recent U.S. spot ETFs debut. Bitcoin has dropped nearly 19% to $39, since the spot ETFs began trading in the U.S. on Jan. 11, CoinDesk data show. That has some crypto whales bargain-hunting bitcoin on digital assets exchange Bitfinex, one of the top 10 exchanges by trading volumes. Bitfinex whales are notorious for making waves in the market.
/eunic-brussels.eu

Swiss Crypto Bank Sygnum Inches Closer to &#;Unicorn&#; Status With $40M Raise
Sam Reynolds &#; CoinDesk
Sygnum, a crypto banking group based in Switzerland, closed a $40 million round, which valued the firm at $ million. &#;Closing a successful funding round in this macro environment with such strong partners is exciting, and we are thankful for our investors&#; trust in us,&#; Mathias Imbach, Sygnum&#;s co-founder and CEO, said in a press release on Thursday. &#;Our strategy to build trust via regulation and good governance has guided us throughout all market cycles.&#;
/eunic-brussels.eu

Do Bitcoin ETFs Kill the Bull Case for Crypto Equities?
Alex Tapscott &#; CoinDesk
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Crypto Custodian BitGo Receives Investment From Iconic Cash Handling Firm Brink&#;s
Ian Allison &#; CoinDesk
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Crypto Fans Lured by 20% Stablecoin Yields Even After Bust; Founders and VCs are flocking to interest-bearing stablecoins; &#;You have to have a horse in the race,&#; one CEO says
Hannah Miller, Muyao Shen, and Olga Kharif &#; Bloomberg
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SatoshiVM Marred by Controversy Days After SAVM Issuance; SAVM jumped several thousand percent to a market capitalization of as high as $90 million a few hours after issuance.
Shaurya Malwa &#; CoinDesk
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Bitwise Becomes First Spot Bitcoin ETF Provider to Provide Wallet Address
Helene Braun &#; CoinDesk
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Why Tornado Cash Remains the Most Pivotal Legal Case in Crypto; Edward Snowden has backed a legal defense campaign for Roman Storm and Alexey Pertsev, coders behind the mixing service. They deserve the support of the crypto community, which has fundamental rights at stake in the case.
Ben Schiller &#; CoinDesk
/eunic-brussels.eu

Politics

Trumponomics Less Tax Tailwind, More Trade Turmoil; Former president is running on his economic record, but his next term will feature a different agenda
Greg Ip &#; The Wall Street Journal
Many voters are prepared to give Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, a second term for one simple reason: They think he managed the economy better than President Biden has. But the economic agenda Trump would bring to a second term will be very different from the first. Then, as now, Trump&#;s strongest economic conviction is in protectionism. In his first term, though, that was overshadowed by a sweeping tax overhaul Republican allies muscled through Congress.
/eunic-brussels.eu

Trump&#;s Wild &#;Mob Boss&#; Threat Against Every Single Nikki Haley Donor Backfires
Ed Mazza &#; Huffington Post
Donald Trump on Wednesday stepped up his attacks on Nikki Haley as he issued a threat to every single person who donates to her campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. &#;Anybody that makes a &#;Contribution&#; to Birdbrain, from this moment forth, will be permanently barred from the MAGA camp,&#; he wrote on his Truth Social website. &#;We don&#;t want them, and will not accept them.&#;
/eunic-brussels.eu

Donald Trump warns Nikki Haley&#;s billionaire backers to halt support; Former president says Wall Street donors will be &#;permanently barred from the MAGA camp&#; if they contribute to Republican rival&#;s campaign
Alex Rogers &#; Financial Times
Donald Trump has warned donors that they will be &#;barred&#; from his &#;MAGA camp&#; if they make further contributions to Nikki Haley&#;s campaign, raising the stakes for her billionaire backers a day after she was defeated in the New Hampshire primary. After dominating the first two contests in the Republican race, Trump has tried to snuff out his rival&#;s campaign, labelling her an &#;imposter&#; who lacks a real base of support among the party.
/eunic-brussels.eu

The Fed Risks Getting Caught Up in Politics, Whatever It Does; Investors are debating the timing and scale of interest rate cuts this election year
James Mackintosh &#; The Wall Street Journal
The problem with being independent of politics is that appearances matter. You don&#;t have to just be independent, you must also appear to be independent-even if that changes what you might otherwise do. Many investors think the Federal Reserve might be pushed to do exactly that, lowering interest rates in March to get the rate-cutting cycle started before the election campaigns really get going.
/eunic-brussels.eu

Wall Street Donors Keep Haley&#;s Run Afloat, Even If Voters Won&#;t; Wall Street backers plan to hold New York fundraiser Jan. 30; Super PACs pledge to spend millions more to boost Haley
Jordan Fabian, Amanda L Gordon, and Stephanie Lai &#; Bloomberg
Nikki Haley is vowing to press on with her unlikely bid for the Republican presidential nomination, thanks to the backing of Wall Street titans. Haley&#;s second consecutive defeat Tuesday at the hands of Republican frontrunner Donald Trump has intensified calls from his supporters for her to exit the race. But wealthy donors and a group funded by industrialist Charles Koch means she has enough funding to keep running.
/eunic-brussels.eu

Meet the Swiss Billionaire Cast by US Conservatives as the &#;New Soros&#;; Hansjörg Wyss could be the right&#;s next big-money bogeyman; In polarized US, &#;dark money&#; looms large on both sides
Emily Birnbaum &#; Bloomberg
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UK Tells Telegraph Buyer Redbird It Faces Possible Second Probe; Move would see probe reset just days from final decision; Probe into bid follows last-minute changes in UAE-linked bid
Aisha S Gani &#; Bloomberg
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Tories Are Doing Everything They Can to Lose Next Election; The UK Conservative Party increasingly resembles a mashup of a Ruritanian regime (all those knights) and an ideological sect.
Adrian Wooldridge &#; Bloomberg
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Switzerland Knows It Was Wrong to Quit EU Talks, Diplomat Says
Alessandro Speciale and Bastian Benrath &#; Bloomberg
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EU Tries to Soothe Farmers Anger as Protests Keep Spreading
Lyubov Pronina, Jorge Valero and Valentine Baldassari &#; Bloomberg
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Japan&#;s top forex diplomat vigilant to market impact from BOJ stimulus exit
Tetsushi Kajimoto, Takaya Yamaguchi and Leika Kihara &#; Reuters
/eunic-brussels.eu

Regulation

Billionaire Joe Lewis&#; Habit of Tipping Off Staff and Lover Lands Him in Court; Billionaire Joe Lewis hosted employees at Argentina resort; Lewis pleaded guilty to US insider insider trading charges
Ava Benny-Morrison and Katherine Burton &#; Bloomberg
On the edge of Lago Escondido in Argentina&#;s northern Patagonia, at the foot of snow-capped mountains, lies British billionaire Joe Lewis&#; sprawling property. He frequently uses the luxurious estate to entertain public officials and employees handpicked from the top ranks of Lewis&#; investment firm and other companies that the year-old has an interest in.
/eunic-brussels.eu

How Joe Lewis went from being one of Britain&#;s wealthiest men to a convicted felon
Lukas I. Alpert &#; MarketWatch
Joe Lewis has long been one of the richest people in the United Kingdom, but on Wednesday he admitted he was also a cheapskate. In pleading guilty to felony insider trading charges in federal court in Manhattan, Lewis admitted he had handed secret stock tips to his long-time private pilots, in part, to make up for the fact he had never set up formal retirement plans for them.
/eunic-brussels.eu

Colorado Pastor Admits Stealing $ Million From Followers In Crypto Fraud Scheme; Eli Regalado says he spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on a home remodel that was ordained by God.
Ryan Grenoble &#; Huffington Post
A Colorado pastor who convinced his followers to buy millions of dollars worth of a cryptocurrency called &#;INDXcoin&#; allegedly stole $ million of the proceeds, which he spent on a Range Rover, lavish vacations, luxury goods and a home remodel that he claims was ordained by God. The Colorado Securities Division filed civil fraud charges last week against Eli Regalado and his wife, Kaitlyn, accusing them of selling the &#;illiquid and practically worthless&#; coin to members of the Christian community, leaving them out of millions of dollars.
/eunic-brussels.eu

Swiss financial regulator gets a new leader as UBS-Credit Suisse merger sparks calls for reform
Jamey Keaton &#; Associated Press
Switzerland&#;s financial markets authority is getting a new chief executive as the rich Alpine country looks at ways to strengthen regulations after UBS hurriedly took over ailing rival Credit Suisse last year partly to prevent a global banking meltdown. The Swiss government on Wednesday selected Stefan Walter, a year-old German national who was director-general of the European Central Bank for the last decade, to head the Swiss financial authority known as FINMA.
/eunic-brussels.eu

Hong Kong Regulator Outlines 3-Year Strategy Focusing on Innovation and Competitiveness
Yousra Anwar Ahmed &#; CoinMarketCap
The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong has published its strategic priorities for the next three years, from to The plan focuses on maintaining market resilience, enhancing competitiveness, leading financial innovation, and boosting institutional efficiency. According to the SFC&#;s report, the regulator aims to strengthen the city&#;s financial markets in the face of &#;unprecedented challenges and opportunities&#; brought about by &#;shifting tides in the global markets, geopolitical tensions and technological advances.&#;
/eunic-brussels.eu

CFTC Seeks Public Comment on Proposed Capital Comparability Determination for Swap Dealers Subject to Supervision by the UK Prudential Regulation Authority
CFTC
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is soliciting public comment on a substituted compliance application requesting that the Commission determine that certain CFTC-registered nonbank swap dealers located in the United Kingdom may satisfy certain Commodity Exchange Act capital and financial reporting requirements by being subject to, and complying with, comparable capital and financial reporting requirements under UK laws and regulations. The Institute of International Bankers, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association submitted the application.
/eunic-brussels.eu

Statement of Commissioner Caroline D. Pham in Support of Proposed Order and Request for Comment on Comparability Determination for UK PRA Swap Dealer Capital and Financial Reporting Requirements
Commissioner Caroline D. Pham &#; CFTC
I support the Commission&#;s proposed order and request for comment on a comparability determination for nonbank swap dealers subject to capital and financial reporting requirements of the United Kingdom and regulated by the United Kingdom Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA). I would like to thank Justin McPhee, Joo Hong, Liliya Bozhanova, Rafael Martinez, Tom Smith, and Amanda Olear in the Market Participants Division (MPD) for their hard work on these technical and detailed requirements.
/eunic-brussels.eu

Statement of Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero: Promoting the Resilience of Swap Dealers in the United Kingdom through Strong Capital Requirements and Financial Reporting; Proposed Comparability Determination for UK Swap Dealer Capital Requirements
Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero &#; CFTC
Today, the Commission considers a proposal intended to safeguard the resilience of six swap dealers in the United Kingdom (&#;UK&#;) supervised by the Prudential Regulation Authority (&#;PRA&#;).[1] The proposal is part of the Commission&#;s &#;substituted compliance&#; framework.
/eunic-brussels.eu

Statement of Commissioner Kristin N. Johnson: Combatting Systemic Risk and Fostering Integrity of the Global Financial System Through Rigorous Standards and International Comity
Commissioner Kristin N. Johnson &#; CFTC
I support the Commodity Futures Trading Commission&#;s (Commission or CFTC) issuance of the proposed conditional capital comparability determination order for comment (Proposed Comparability Determination) pursuant to Commission Regulation [1] The Proposed Comparability Determination, if approved, will allow registered nonbank swap dealers (SDs) organized and domiciled in the United Kingdom (UK) and designated for prudential supervision by the UK Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA-designated non-bank SDs) to satisfy certain capital and financial reporting requirements under the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) by complying with comparable capital and financial reporting requirements under UK laws and regulations.
/eunic-brussels.eu

Supporting Statement of Chairman Rostin Behnam on the Proposed Order and Request for Comment on the Application for a Capital Comparability Determination for Nonbank Swap Dealers Regulated by the United Kingdom Prudential Regulation Authority
Chairman Rostin Behnam &#; CFTC
I support the Commission&#;s proposed order and request for comment on an application for a preliminary capital comparability determination on behalf of six nonbank swap dealers that are domiciled in the United Kingdom (UK) and registered with the CFTC. All six of these UK nonbank SDs are subject to, and comply with, the UK capital and financial reporting rules as implemented by the UK Prudential Regulation Authority, which the Commission has preliminarily determined are comparable to certain capital and financial reporting requirements under the Commodity Exchange Act and the Commission&#;s regulations, subject to certain conditions. This preliminary capital comparability determination for these UK nonbank SDs is the fourth proposed order and request for comment to come before the Commission since it adopted its substituted compliance framework for non-U.S. domiciled nonbank swap dealers in July
/eunic-brussels.eu

SEC Adopts Rules to Enhance Investor Protections Relating to SPACs, Shell Companies, and Projections
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today adopted new rules and amendments to enhance disclosures and provide additional investor protection in initial public offerings (IPOs) by special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) and in subsequent business combination transactions between SPACs and target companies (de-SPAC transactions).
/eunic-brussels.eu

Statement on Final Rules Regarding Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs), Shell Companies, and Projections
Chair Gary Gensler &#; SEC
Today, the Commission is considering whether to adopt final rules that will strengthen protections for investors in special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs). I am pleased to support these final rules because they will better align the protections investors receive when investing in SPACs with those provided to them when investing in traditional IPOs. Suppose a group of strangers came up to you and said: &#;I have a company. It doesn&#;t do much of anything, but sometime in the next two years, we&#;ll merge with another company. I don&#;t know what that company is yet.&#; What if I told you that, if the strangers complete a merger, they get to pocket 20 percent of your investment? This essentially describes what SPACs do.
/eunic-brussels.eu

An IPO By Any Other Name: Empowering SPAC Investors
Commissioner Jaime Lizarraga &#; SEC
Under current practice, investors face informational disadvantages when evaluating whether to invest in companies that raise capital through a special purpose acquisition company, or &#;SPAC,&#; structure instead of a traditional IPO. The reforms the Commission is advancing today protect investors by addressing this disparity. Improved disclosures of sponsor compensation, conflicts of interest, share value dilution, and other material information will be more useful for investors when evaluating the merits of a SPAC IPO and de-SPAC transactions.
/eunic-brussels.eu

Dissenting Statement on Final Rule on Special Purpose Acquisition Companies, Shell Companies, and Projections: The Commission Embraces Merit Regulation
Commissioner Mark T. Uyeda &#; SEC
Thank you, Chair Gensler, and thank you to the staff for your presentations. Today, the Commission considers a lengthy adopting release of nearly pages that extensively describes numerous disclosure, dissemination, forward looking statement, liability, and accounting provisions purportedly designed to advance investor protection and facilitate capital formation for special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs). But there may be a far simpler explanation behind what the Commission is doing for SPACs: we simply do not like them. In order to achieve this desired outcome, the Commission seeks to impose crushingly burdensome regulations on SPACs as a form of merit regulation in disguise.
/eunic-brussels.eu

Ensuring Basic Protections: Special Purpose Acquisition Company Rule Adoption
Commissioner Caroline A. Crenshaw &#; SEC
The Special Purpose Acquisition Company, or SPAC, boom has cooled. Cooled in the sense that in the years and we saw and SPAC initial public offerings, or IPOs, and in we saw 31 SPAC IPOs.[1] Yet today&#;s rule is as needed as ever. The Commission is not seeking to regulate a bubble or opine on the merits of a rise in SPACs. Rather, the Commission and its staff have worked to put forth a rule that reduces incentives for financial engineering and arbitrage. Further, there are many asymmetries in terms of investor protections between a traditional IPO and a SPAC transaction.[2] Today&#;s rule seeks to reduce those asymmetries so that investor protections are not significantly reduced on one path to the public markets versus another.
/eunic-brussels.eu

For the Birds: Statement on Adoption of Rule Regarding Special Purpose Acquisition Companies, Shell Companies, and Projections
Commissioner Hester M. Peirce &#; SEC
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I cannot support this rule. The Commission has failed to identify a problem in need of a regulatory solution. To the contrary, the rule will exacerbate a problem-the shrinking pool of public companies-by closing down one road into the public markets. Certain features of Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (&#;SPACs&#;) needed fixing, but the market was fixing them before the Commission proposed this rule.[1] We could have assisted the market in achieving targeted and clear enhancements to SPAC disclosures without imposing unnecessary costs or venturing into merit-based regulatory territory.[2] With the time and resources it saved by engaging in a narrower rulemaking, the Commission could have undertaken a more meaningful project to assess and address the causes of the troubling dearth of public companies and the specific challenges of small companies seeking capital in the public markets.
/eunic-brussels.eu

SFC cautions public against impersonators of SFC CEO
Securities and Futures Commission (SFC)
The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) today urges the public to beware of instant text messages impersonating the SFC&#;s Chief Executive Officer. The SFC received a report from a member of the public who received text messages on WhatsApp purportedly from the SFC&#;s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Ms Julia Leung. These text messages contained investment recommendations.
/eunic-brussels.eu

Investing and Trading

HK&#;s Popular Structured Notes See $ Billion Wipeout; Callable contracts incurred massive losses in recent rout; Traders say unwinding of hedges exacerbates market volatility
John Cheng &#; Bloomberg
Retail traders in Hong Kong lost big when $ billion of leveraged derivatives were wiped out during the recent stock slump, exacerbating market volatility and highlighting the risk of the popular structured product. Trading in hundreds of mostly bullish contracts was terminated from Jan. 17 to 22, exchange data show, causing investors to lose the premium they paid and triggering a rush by banks to unwind their hedge positions. A bulk of the losses happened on Jan. 17, when the Hang Seng Index posted its biggest decline since October
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EU official says bloc will copy Wall Street move to shorten stocks settlement
Huw Jones &#; Reuters
A shift by European Union markets to halve the time it takes to settle stock trades is a matter of when, rather than if, given that the benefits will outweigh the short-term challenges, the bloc&#;s financial services chief said on Thursday. Wall Street is shifting from settling stock trades over two business days to one in May, known as T+1, to reduce risk in markets, piling pressure on European markets to follow suit.
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Former ED&F Traders Kick Off Sugar Firm&#;s Launch With Acquisition
Ilena Peng &#; Bloomberg
A new sugar firm established by former ED&F Man Holdings Ltd. traders agreed to buy operations of Chicago&#;s Pullman Sugar LLC as part of its entry into the North American sweetener market. The acquisition is part of a rollout and first phase of the new venture, Verax Commodities LLC, the Chicago-based company said Wednesday in a statement. Terms weren&#;t disclosed. The deal gives Verax synergies and scale &#;to successfully service growing sugar needs across the US, Mexico and adjacent regional sugar markets,&#; the statement said.
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Several markets around the world have completely unwound their Fed pivot rally
Aruni Soni &#; Business Insider
The Fed pivot rally has had its naysayers among stock market pros, but bond markets worldwide are also beginning to pare back expectations of a March rate cut, Ned Davis Research said Tuesday. From Germany to Canada, investors are selling government paper, driving bond yields higher where they were before the Fed&#;s last meeting in December. Yields rise as bond prices fall.
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Glencore, Viterra Sue Louis Dreyfus for $ Million Cotton Loss
Ilena Peng &#; Bloomberg
Glencore Ltd. and Viterra BV have filed a lawsuit in New York claiming they lost more than $ million from failed bets on cotton futures in because Louis Dreyfus Co. &#;manipulated and artificially inflated&#; prices. The dispute is the latest in a legal fight that began more than a decade ago when traders accused Louis Dreyfus and its Allenberg unit of amassing huge positions in futures contracts to limit supply in the largest ever cotton market &#;squeeze,&#; when prices surged to a record. Two years ago, a US judge ruled the Dutch commodity trader must face an antitrust class action over the allegations.
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Heating Your House Will Be Cheaper This Winter Thanks to Natural-Gas Boom; There hasn&#;t been enough cold weather to burn up America&#;s gas surplus
Ryan Dezember &#; The Wall Street Journal
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Musk Says He Needs Bigger Tesla Stake to Avoid Being Ousted; Tesla CEO floats dual-class stock structure in power grab; A 25% stake would solidify influence without &#;total control&#;
Esha Dey and Dana Hull &#; Bloomberg
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Why Activist Short Sellers Stir Up Controversy
Lisa Pham &#; Bloomberg
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Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance

Groundwater Levels Around the World Are Dropping Quickly, Often at Accelerating Rates; Rapid declines are most common in aquifers under croplands in drier regions, including California, the most extensive analysis of groundwater trends so far shows.
Liza Gross &#; Inside Climate News
Groundwater supplies are dwindling in aquifers around the world, a groundbreaking new study found, with the rates of decline accelerating over the past four decades in nearly a third of aquifers studied. Many agricultural centers face an uncertain future as a warming climate threatens water availability around the world. Groundwater has long acted as a climate buffer, providing a source of freshwater for communities with unreliable rainfall. But human activity has unleashed a feedback loop that is placing this crucial resource at risk: decades of uncontrolled combustion of fossil fuels has caused more frequent and severe droughts, which in turn has led to increased reliance on groundwater.
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Biden&#;s Natural Gas Plan Coming Soon as Industry Mounts Lobbying Blitz; Changes may derail Venture Global&#;s CP2 terminal in Louisiana; Climate activists pressure White House to curb exports
Jennifer A Dlouhy, Jennifer Jacobs, and Ruth Liao &#; Bloomberg
The Biden administration is set to unveil plans within days for intensifying environmental scrutiny of applications to export natural gas, potentially stalling massive planned projects for months, if not longer. The administration&#;s approach could be announced as soon as the end of this week, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named because there&#;s been no public announcement. White House officials have spent weeks deliberating over the issue &#; including how aggressive to get &#; as they navigate competing environmental, economic and political concerns tied to tens of billions of dollars in US gas trade.
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Nuclear power generation to reach record high next year, IEA forecasts; Majority of new capacity over next three years expected to come from China and India
Rachel Millard &#; Financial Times
Global nuclear power generation is set to reach an all-time high next year, according to the latest forecasts from the International Energy Agency, marking a resurgence for the technology and boost for efforts to cut carbon dioxide emissions. Output from nuclear power plants is expected to rise by about 3 per cent both this year and next to 2,TWh, overtaking the previous peak of 2,TWh in , and by a further per cent in , the IEA said.
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AI Needs So Much Power That Old Coal Plants Are Sticking Around; Power companies are scrambling to satisfy the needs of data centers and new factories in a country where the grid is already strained.
Saijel Kishan and Josh Saul &#; Bloomberg
In a square-mile patch of northern Virginia that&#;s been dubbed &#;data center alley,&#; the boom in artificial intelligence is turbocharging electricity use. Struggling to keep up, the power company that serves the area temporarily paused new data center connections at one point in Virginia&#;s environmental regulators considered a plan to allow data centers to run diesel generators during power shortages, but backed off after it drew strong community opposition.
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Plastic Bag Bans Have Failed in Every Way Except One; Next time you reach for that reusable bag you might be doing more damage to the environment than sticking with single-use carriers.
David Fickling &#; Bloomberg
Remember a few years ago, when lots of places decided to ban plastic bags? Remember how we all stopped using them? Yeah, me neither. Far from reducing the consumption of polymers and the associated pollution, prohibiting single-use shopping sacks may well be increasing both problems. Usage of plastic for grocery bags in New Jersey increased threefold after a ban, according to a study earlier this month by Freedonia, a market research company, pushing the emissions used in manufacturing them up about 41%.
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Expected drop in oil and gas demand could blindside North Sea investors, Carbon Tracker warns
edie
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Long-Delayed Trans Mountain Pipeline to Start Filling With Oil
Lucia Kassai and Devika Krishna Kumar &#; Bloomberg
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EU Sees Electricity Production Doubling by to Reach Net Zero; Greater power supply needed as bloc shifts to clean economy; EC analysis is basis for new climate goals for next decade
Ewa Krukowska and Alberto Nardelli &#; Bloomberg
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NJ Approves Two Offshore Wind Farms to Power Million Homes
Will Wade &#; Bloomberg
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Orsted Ramps Up Bet on US Offshore Wind With New York Deal
Will Wade and William Mathis &#; Bloomberg
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The US Desperately Needs EVs Under $50, They&#;re On the Way; From the Volvo EX30 to Honda&#;s Prologue, carmakers are set to debut at least 24 new electric cars in the US this year &#; many on the affordable side.
Kyle Stock &#; Bloomberg
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Brussels struggles to placate farmers as far right stokes protests; Commission president to hold talks in bid to end escalating demonstrations against EU green policies
Alice Hancock, Leila Abboud, Adrienne Klasa and Guy Chazan &#; Financial Times
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Goldman Sachs Offers Training to Francophone African Women; Goldman Sachs, IFC to expand program in French-speaking Africa; More than , people engaged in course since its creation
Alexandre Rajbhandari &#; Bloomberg
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Five Elite Universities to Settle Price-Fixing Lawsuit for $ Million; The case accused 17 prestigious schools of colluding on financial-aid calculations
Melissa Korn &#; The Wall Street Journal
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IKEA sets new targets for emissions cuts as more factories switch to renewable power
Helen Reid &#; Reuters
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HSBC Unveils First &#;Transition&#; Plan, Putting Onus on Clients; CEO Quinn says HSBC&#;s success depends on clients, economy; Banks are increasingly adding caveats to net zero goals
Alastair Marsh &#; Bloomberg
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Institutions

Why one giant regional bank no longer wants to be a regional bank; The boss of PNC is making it clear that his Pittsburgh bank needs to get bigger in the wake of a industry crisis
David Hollerith &#; Yahoo Finance
The boss of the sixth-largest lender in the US is making it clear that he no longer wants it to be viewed as a regional bank. On a conference call with analysts last week, PNC Financial Services Group (PNC) CEO Bill Demchak made a case for why it&#;s &#;critical&#; his company gets bigger in the wake of a crisis last spring that roiled regional banks across the country.
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Lloyds to Cut 1, Branch Positions in Online Services Push
Aisha S Gani &#; Bloomberg
Lloyds Banking Group Plc is cutting around 1, roles across its branches, part of a push by the lender to provide more services online. The lender is also planning to add positions to its Relationship Growth team, meaning a net reduction of about roles, according to a spokesperson. That team &#; part of the firm&#;s Consumer Relationships business &#; meets with customers through a combination of video, phone and branch meetings.
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Hedge Funds Are Playing a Dangerous Game on Japan and China; Everyone loves the Nikkei and hates the Hang Seng. Don&#;t bet on or against this crowded trade.
Shuli Ren &#; Bloomberg
A macro hedge fund&#;s closure has sent shockwaves across Asia&#;s asset-management world. Singapore-based Asia Genesis Asset Management Pte is shutting down its macro fund after losing % in the first weeks of January from a wrong-way bet on Japan and China. Chief Investment Officer Chua Soon Hock was bearish on Japanese equities and bullish on Chinese stocks, and he was caught out by a sharp selloff in the Hang Seng Index and an equally impressive rally in the Nikkei Stock Average.
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Blackstone Profit Unexpectedly Rises as Gray Touts &#;Virtuous Cycle&#;
Dawn Lim &#; Bloomberg
Blackstone Inc.&#;s profit climbed 4% in the final quarter of as President Jon Gray sees an inflection point for private equity after one of the industry&#;s worst years. The world&#;s largest alternative-asset manager reported distributable earnings of $ billion, or $ a share, beating analysts&#; cent average estimate. The surprise increase snapped a run of consecutive quarterly declines that began in late
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Hedge Fund Demands $ Million From Its Compliance Team After SEC Probe
Sridhar Natarajan &#; Bloomberg
Wall Street firms usually grumble in private after getting punished by regulators. Anthony Melchiorre&#;s Chatham Asset Management is dragging its advisers into a public legal battle for $ million. The $6 billion hedge fund is demanding that Adviser Compliance Associates not only cover Chatham&#;s costs for settling a US probe last year, but also damage to its business. In an unusual lawsuit, Chatham claims the outside consultant, founded by former regulators, failed to prevent trading practices that ran afoul of authorities.
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Work & Management

No, office mandates don&#;t help companies make more money, study finds; New research shows that return-to-office mandates don&#;t play any role in a company&#;s financial performance, but do have negative side effects for its workforce
Danielle Abril &#; The Washington Post
After more than a year of trying and failing to get its more than 5, workers to return to the office on a hybrid schedule, Internet Brands took a different approach. The WebMD parent created a video in which its CEO and some of its executives addressed employees, strongly encouraging them to return to the office. The lighthearted song &#;Iko Iko&#; plays in the background, and at one point, executives dance in a montage to the tune.
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Bankers ordered back to office in remote working crackdown
Adam Mawardi &#; The Telegraph
One of the US&#;s biggest banks has sent &#;letters of education&#; to its home-working staff threatening them with disciplinary action if they fail to meet minimum office attendance. Bank of America has sent letters to employees who have avoided their desks despite &#;requests and reminders&#; to meet the required number of working days in the office. One letter shared online by a Bank of America employee said: &#;Failure to follow the workplace excellence expectations applicable to your role within two weeks of the date of this notification may result in further disciplinary action.&#;
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US Business Activity Expands at Fastest Pace in Seven Months
Vince Golle &#; Bloomberg
US business activity expanded in January by the most in seven months, led by stronger orders growth that left service providers and manufacturers more confident about the demand outlook. The S&P Global flash composite output index advanced to , fueled mainly by stronger services activity. Readings greater than 50 indicate expansion. The group&#;s measure of expected output in the coming year climbed to the highest since May , boosted by firmer domestic demand. &#;Confidence has also been buoyed by hopes of lower inflation in , easing the cost of living squeeze and facilitating the path to lower interest rates,&#; Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said in a statement.
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Top Banker Pay Dips Below $1 Million in Asia as Bonuses Fade
Cathy Chan &#; Bloomberg
Pay for most senior investment bankers at Wall Street firms in Asia dropped to the lowest level in almost two decades, according to people familiar with the matter, as a dearth of deals in China and Hong Kong hammered the industry. Total compensation for many senior bankers in Asia ex-Japan fell to $, to $,, well below the $1 million or more they have typically earned since the turn of the millennium, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private matters. At least 20% of managing directors at banks, including Morgan Stanley and UBS Group AG, received no bonuses last year, the people said.
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Why Bosses Should Tell Employees to Slow Down More Often; Every company wants to do things as quickly as possible. But there are times when you ought to hit the brakes.
Robert I. Sutton and Huggy Rao &#; The Wall Street Journal
Faster, faster, faster. What manager hasn&#;t heard-and repeated-that mantra? What employee hasn&#;t heard that the goal is to move quickly and maybe even break things, that companies saddled with rules and red tape are bound to be lapped by more-nimble competitors? In this hypercompetitive world, the prize, we&#;re often told, goes to the fastest. You snooze, you lose.
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Wellness Exchange

With COVID vaccine in Republican crosshairs, public health officials worry about vulnerable Texans
Julian Gill &#; Houston Chronicle
Starting next month, private employers in Texas will be barred from requiring COVID shots. A new budget rule stymies the promotion of the vaccine. And as part of a pending lawsuit, the Texas attorney general is trying to reap millions from one of the companies behind the vaccine, accusing it of misrepresenting the shot&#;s efficacy. Since the deadliest days of the pandemic, Texas and other conservative states have become hubs for anti-vaccine policies, worrying public health officials.
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FDA to require new warning of secondary cancer risk for CAR-T cancer therapies
Nathaniel Weixel &#; The Hill
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is requiring a boxed warning on all existing CAR-T cancer treatments following a review of reports that the therapies themselves can increase the risk for some secondary cancers. In letters to the manufacturers of all six currently available CAR-T therapies dated Jan. 19, the FDA said the prescribing information will need to include so-called black box warnings, the most serious type for any medication.
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New long COVID study uncovers high inflammation in patients as Senate calls for more research on &#;crisis&#;; The study followed patients at four different hospitals in Switzerland.
Ashley Riegle &#; ABC News
A new study in Science is shining a light on the continuing impact of long COVID, with research revealing further and continuing health concerns for some of the 16 million sufferers in the U.S. Long COVID is a syndrome, or collection of symptoms, that continue or develop after an acute COVID infection and can last weeks, months or years. There is no test to confirm if symptoms are related to long COVID. Some scientists suggest that long COVID is caused by overactive immune cells, but the exact cause remains unclear.
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Regions

Tokyo Apartment Prices Reach Record for Third Straight Year
Lisa Du &#; Bloomberg
Tokyo new condo prices jumped to a record for the third straight year in , driven by low supply and rising building costs. The average price of a new apartment for sale in the Japanese capital and surrounding areas surged 29% to a fresh high of 81 million yen ($,), according to the Real Estate Economic Institute, which has been tracking the data since
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Asia braces for Trump comeback and major U.S. policy reversal; Fears mount the former president might kill Biden-led IPEF economic deal
Toru Takahashi &#; Nikkei
TOKYO &#; Many Asian leaders must be watching the race for the U.S. Republican presidential nomination with trepidation, trying to figure out what impact Donald Trump&#;s possible return to power will have on their countries. If the former U.S. president secures a big win on Super Tuesday in early March, he could lock up the nomination, paving the way for a rematch against Democratic President Joe Biden in November.
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A Historic and Devastating Drought in the Amazon Was Caused by Climate Change, Researchers Say; A new report untangles the impact of global warming on an &#;exceptional&#; drought across the world&#;s largest land-based carbon sink.
Georgina Gustin &#; Inside Climate News
Climate change was the primary driver of a massive drought in the Amazon basin in and will likely cause future extreme droughts, with potentially dire consequences for global efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new report from World Weather Attribution. The group, which assembles teams of scientists to rapidly assess if climate change had an impact on recent weather events, released a report Wednesday saying that the &#;exceptional&#; Amazon drought was 30 times more likely to have occurred because of climate change.
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Miscellaneous

Meta moves to protect teens from unwanted messages on Instagram, Facebook
Reuters
Meta Platforms (META.O) is building more safeguards to protect teen users from unwanted direct messages on Instagram and Facebook, the social media platform said on Thursday. The move comes weeks after the WhatsApp owner said it would hide more content from teens after regulators pushed the world&#;s most popular social media network to protect children from harmful content on its apps.
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Scotch whisky producers toast wealthy drinkers in Asia for defying luxury gloom; With postwar distillery numbers at record high, owners point to &#;premiumisation&#; and growth in tourism revenue
Lukanyo Mnyanda &#; Financial Times
As Scots celebrate Burns Night on Thursday to honour Robert Burns &#; whose distaste for duties imposed by London on Scotland&#;s national drink was the subject of one of his poems &#; local whisky producers say they are confident of defying a general weakening of demand for luxuries. The slowdown extends to the US, Scotch whisky&#;s biggest export market. A softening in demand there has done little to discourage Annabel Thomas, who is betting that the US will still be able to help her distillery become profitable this year.
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